Off The Beaten Path
by RowanJade
Summary: A routine mission isn't as routine as they thought it would be when Dr. Keller disappears and things get weird. This thing just keeps growing...it's like mold but fun to read!
1. Part I ch 1

**Title:** Off The Beaten Path  
**Warning:** - see author's note  
**Genre:** Drama/Adventure/Comedy  
**Rating:** PG-13 (ish)  
**Word count:** 15922 (at the moment it may be expanded on later)  
**Characters:** Woolsey, McKay, Keller, Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon, OC, Others mentioned.

**Author's Note:** - So while updating a Stargate board I read the brief synopsis for the upcoming show Tracker. Well that made a plot bunny hop and you know how that goes. So there may be spoilers for that show in here but I doubt it since my OC is female and the one in the show is not. So this is purely something to keep my fingers busy at work without actually having to work.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters of Stargate, the techonology of it or any of the ideas behind it. I'm not making a cent off this fiction so suing me is pretty much a big waste of time.

As always feedback is appreciated and even helps to keep the plot bunnies from killing me.

XxXxXxXxXx

As the blue shimmer of the gate winked out behind them, Rodney McKay heaved his pack higher onto his shoulder and looked at the woman and the slight man in front of him. He still couldn't believe that Woolsey had agreed to come along instead of delegating someone else to take his place. Of course it wasn't like there was any chance of danger on this mission but in the Pegasus Galaxy you never could tell what would happen. Doctor Keller on the other hand was shaping up to be a decent asset in times of stress. Even though she'd really hesitated at the beginning of her tenure as the Atlantis head of medicine, she had grown a great deal and was now quite willing to jump into new situations without too much whining. Woolsey on the other hand, while growing a lot since his promotion to the head of Atlantis, still just didn't seem like the type of man that would want to go on an away mission. But, here he was, grinning in the late afternoon sunshine and adjusting his pack on his back.

"Well, I suppose we'd better head out before it gets dark. Wouldn't do to be caught out in the open where anything could happen."

"Oh that's not a problem," Dr. Keller said with a grin. "We've done this trip before and there's not a whole lot to worry about around here other than the possibility of sun burn or the big green butterflies that follow you."

Rodney suppressed a shudder at the mention of the butterflies that Keller liked so much. They smelled distinctly like lemons and he tried his best to avoid the green menaces in case they had any citrus-like properties. "What Dr. Keller means is that there aren't any predators around here so even if we are caught out after dark, there's very little to worry about."

Woolsey blinked at Rodney as if he was speaking a foreign language for a moment before removing his glasses and carefully wiping them off with a small handkerchief he'd pulled from his coat pocket. "Yes, well I'd rather not take too much time out here in any event. I do have other concerns back at the city and I have no idea how long these talks will take."

Keller glanced back and forth between Woolsey and McKay and noted that McKay's lip was beginning to curl up in a sneer. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that Samantha Carter had been displaced by the IOA agent as the head of the city, and the two men rarely saw eye to eye on anything. Woolsey was a very traditional 'by the book' sort of man and Rodney had learned quickly that the Pegasus galaxy had no rules so you had to adapt quickly or be annihilated. "Well then, let's not wait around here shall we?"

The trio moved out towards the small village that was hosting the talks that Woolsey would be mediating. This planet was home to two different tribes that had been in what seemed like a constant battle over the small patches of arable land this continent had to offer. Teyla had first introduced the Atlantis team to the two tribes a while back and while both of them were willing to trade with the Atlantis party they weren't willing to let the other tribe trade as well. So the city's representatives had been trying to negotiate peace between them for several months but neither side was willing to give up in their quest for superiority over their counterpart. Samantha Carter had made some headway and had nearly convinced one of the sides that the city's teams would be willing to relocate them to either another part of the main continent or even one of the lesser land masses. Unfortunately they suddenly realized that they would then not have access to the gate and the deal was off. So now Woolsey was trying his hand at the negotiations.

Dr. Keller was walking along in front of Rodney who had decided to take the rear of the procession, purportedly to protect their rear flank but also so he could watch Keller walk. He had to admit, she really did fill out the uniform pants she wore in a very pleasing manner. Smiling to himself he wondered if she would even consider going out on a date with him. Sheppard would tell him that he should stop hedging and just ask her, but the idea of a woman as beautiful as Keller rejecting him was just a bit too daunting. Plus he had a sneaking suspicion that Keller was actually interested in Ronon but there still wasn't any proof even if he had caught her staring at the big Satedan over meals several times. He desperately wanted to at least take her out on a nice walk down to the south pier but the reminder of how different he was from what most women considered date material kept quashing any hopes that fought their way into his cluttered brain. Trying to distract himself from his painfully bleak dating prospects he decided it would be best if he just engaged her in a conversation. After all they had talked quite a lot while they were trapped with Sam in that underground storage room.

"So…uh…how did you get involved in medicine?" He sputtered as he jogged up beside her.

Keller smiled shyly and kept walking moving to the right of the path so that Rodney could accompany her. "Well, uh, I guess my dad was the one that got me interested in it. I was sort of…smarter than most of the kids in my town and he pushed me to learn about whatever made me happy."

She paused as they climbed up the short rise that led to the bramble thicket that surrounded the village. The thicket stretched for about a quarter of a mile in front of them and for several miles in either direction with only a narrow path leading from the gate to the villages. It was a good defensive perimeter that the tribes of this world used against the Wraith. This area was one of the very few parcels of land on this continent where anything grew and the villagers had managed to fight back the brambles far enough to sustain farmland on the far side of the thicket. The rest of the continent was made up of rocky outcrops and deep canyons.

"It's not really very exciting you know. I'm sure your history is much more interesting than mine."

Rodney wasn't sure she was wrong on that count but he wanted to listen to her talking. "Oh my life, nothing but boredom and nerd stuff. No, your story is really fascinating, keep going please."

She smiled shyly at him and looked forward to where Woolsey was leading the way through the brambles ahead of them. "Why do you want to know any of this?"

That caught Rodney off guard and he stumbled over his words as he tried to come up with an excuse, "Well, uh, I…oh…um…no reason? Hmm, seriously, you're just a very interesting person. I figure if I'm trusting my life to you on a regular basis I should know something about you right?"

Keller laughed softly, "Rodney, when is the last time you had to trust your life to me? You never come in for anything worse than a splinter."

"Yeah…well…it could happen. You never know what's around the next corner do you?"

XxXxXxXx

"Well it looks like we've finally made…" Woolsey's statement trailed off as he surveyed what was left of the village they were supposed to be meeting in. All around them there was destruction and devastation. Tents were strewn about and knocked over, fire pits were scattered and cold and the other signs of everyday life were uprooted and tossed about as if a hurricane had whipped through the village. "What happened?"

Rodney had edged his way into the middle of the clearing where the village laid, pulling his gun up in front of him and scanning the area for any survivors. "Wraith. See the scorch marks?" he asked pointing with the barrel of his gun at a charred black mark near the opening of one of the downed tents. "They must have flown in with darts and dropped the drones off just outside the village." He glanced back at Woolsey and Keller and snapped his fingers at them impatiently, "Start looking for people! There may be someone left alive here."

The other two dropped their packs and fanned out slowly. Neither of them were combat ready, and their fear of the Wraith was showing on their faces. Rodney was proud to see Keller smartly pull her pistol from it's holster and aim it towards the ground like she'd been taught. After the incident on New Athos with the Bolo Kai, Sheppard had insisted on her being trained with weapons. Keller had refused to carry anything more than a handgun but at least she'd agreed to that. Woolsey on the other hand had a side arm but hadn't pulled it yet. He was much more of a politician than a fighter but the man had been in enough dangerous situations with his tenure at the IOA that carrying a gun was not a problem for him.

Keller turned over a large piece of tent cloth and found two bodies under it. Kneeling to check for pulses her face fell when she found nothing. Rodney saw her sadness out of the corner of his eye as he continued forward, kicking bits of rubble around looking for the faint chance of anyone left alive. It was pretty obvious that the Wraith had taken everyone and moved on but they couldn't be sure until they examined the entire village. There were a few decimated husks of villagers that the Wraith had fed on as they herded the people towards the culling beams and the sight, while now familiar, still churned Rodney's guts.

"Oh! Oh…" Woolsey gasped from over to Rodney's right. He looked over to the director of the city and noticed that the man looked quite green around the gills. Rodney shook his head and wandered towards the other man and saw the drained bodies on the ground before him. What made the sight worse is that one of them was a child. Suddenly feeling a great deal of sympathy for Woolsey and his reaction to the carnage Rodney put a gentle hand on the other man's shoulder. "You just don't ever get used to it do you?" Woolsey asked quietly.

"No, no you don't." Rodney nodded as the older man looked at him with deep sadness in his eyes. "We should keep moving, there may still be people that need our help."

"Right," Woolsey said with a shake of his head. He directed his gaze over Rodney's shoulder to where Keller was searching through the wreckage. "Where's Dr. Keller?"

"She's right over…there?" Rodney whirled around to where he thought Jennifer had been but there was no sign of her. "She must be just over there behind that pile of wood," he said over his shoulder as he jogged to the other side of the camp. Once he reached the wood he'd indicated he darted behind it but the doctor was nowhere to be seen. "Dr. Keller?" he called. "Jennifer?" he called a little louder and got no response.

Woolsey had crossed the camp and was tapping on his earpiece, "Dr. Keller where are you? Dr. Keller?" The static that answered him didn't bode well.


	2. Part I ch 2

Jennifer Keller tried not to struggle against the strong arms that wrapped around her and the leather gloved hand that clamped down over her mouth so she couldn't scream for help. She had kicked several times trying to get free but the gun that was pressed to her head shortly afterwards told her all she needed to know about where that idea would get her. She felt herself being dragged backwards by her captor and she tried to drag her heels to give Rodney and Woolsey a clue as to which way they went but the person holding her kept lifting her up as they went. Soon they reached the bramble thicket and her abductor stopped and shoved her to the ground. She was about to try to scream for help when the person who'd captured her fell on top of her and pinned her down, once more putting a hand over her mouth and waving the gun in her face. She looked up carefully trying to figure out if there was any way to reason with this person and found a tall, very nondescript form clad from head to toe in worn leather. The person was even wearing a leather hood that covered everything except his cold dark brown eyes. He put a finger to what she assumed were his lips and made the universal gesture to be quiet.

"You won't be hurt if you cooperate," came a harsh whisper from behind the leather mask.

"What do you want?" Keller asked hesitantly.

The man didn't answer as he rose carefully from the ground and looked back the way they had come. There apparently was no sign of pursuit which worried her a little bit but then she could hear Rodney calling her name faintly in the distance. At least he was all right. And if he was all right, then someone would come looking for her soon. The man was pulling a rope from out of his belt and reaching for her hands to tie them together when her radio crackled to life and Woolsey's voice filled her ear. The man cocked his head at the noise but was obviously familiar with radios because he pulled the headset off her ear and dropped it to the ground before resuming tying her hands together. He had to put down his gun to tie her up so she took advantage of that moment to take a deep breath to scream for help. Before any sound could make it out of her lungs he clamped his hand down over her mouth again and glared at her from behind his mask.

"Difficult I see," he rasped and pulled a dirty cloth from out of the jacket he wore and used it to gag her. Once he had it tightly around her head he went back to tying her hands together, then he trailed the end of the rope out and dragged her to her feet with it.

They started out through the bramble trail at a fast pace and soon they were deep in the thick of it, out of sight of the village and any help she might get. She tried to slow him down enough that Rodney and Woolsey could catch up to them once they eventually figured out which way she was being taken but he kept dragging her along if she started to fall behind. Eventually she started to get tired, she'd just made this trek uphill and now going back down it was easier but still tiring because of all of the rocks and roots the were in the path. She missed one of the roots and hooked her foot under it making her fall to the ground roughly.

She yelled in pain around the dirty gag as she realized that she'd just twisted the ankle she'd sprained on New Athos. She tried to make him understand that she was hurt but he wasn't paying all that much attention to her now. No, now he was looking back along the path they'd just come down. Then he bent over and hooked his arms under hers and dragged her towards the bramble bushes. Realizing what he intended to do she started shaking her head wildly, there was no way that she could go into those brambles and not be torn to shreds. But then she noticed that because he was dragging her through after he'd already passed through it wasn't so bad. He was taking the brunt of the damage from the thorns on his back and clearing the way for her. When he'd gotten far enough into the thick of the bushes to be hidden from the path he leaned over her shoulder and pulled the bushes they'd displaced back together to screen them from the two men that were now coming down the path towards the gate. Woolsey and McKay were arguing with each other and Jennifer could hear them as they came closer. Thinking that if she made enough noise around the gag it might attract their attention she started to take a deep breath but then the man who'd abducted her tapped her on the shoulder with his gun and shook his head no at her, making his point very clear.

Once Rodney & Woolsey had passed she could hear the gate activate as the wormhole whooshed to life. Then it died again, much faster than she had hoped. If it had remained active for a while that would mean that they were radioing back to Atlantis to get some help but since it disengaged so quickly, they had just gone back to the city. Hopefully, to get the Marines to come save her.

Once the gate had gone silent again the man rose from the ground slowly and peered over the tops of the brambles to see if the coast was clear. Then he knelt back down and waited for what seemed like forever. When he finally judged it to be safe to leave the cover of the thicket he worked his way around Jennifer's body to reverse the process of dragging her along behind him to shield her from the worst of the thorns damage. Eventually they were back in the middle of the path and he allowed her to stand up again before leading her off down the path towards the gate.

XxXxXxXx

John Sheppard and Ronon Dex walked down the winding staircase from the Atlantis jumper bay in a foul mood. They'd just returned from a meeting with the Wraith that they knew as Todd. Todd had been "helping" them with the chaos that the Wraith named Michael had been causing throughout the galaxy for nearly a year now. Of course Todd was helping himself more than he was helping the humans but usually the tidbits he sent their way could be expanded by Rodney and Zelenka into something much more useful. This time, however, Todd was being petulant and was demanding more than they were willing to give for the scant bit of information he dangled in front of them.

"I don't see why we waste our time trying to play nice with him. Just blow him out of the sky and be done with it," Ronon growled. His hatred for the Wraith probably would never abate even though he knew perfectly well that Todd really had helped them out since they'd started working with him.

"Well that would just be too easy." Sheppard joked. Anything that would lighten up the fact that they were both working themselves to the bone with no end in sight was a welcome thing. Unfortunately, even though it was meant as a joke, Sheppard knew that Ronon was probably right. They rounded the last corner of the stairs to the walkway between Mr. Woolsey's office and the main control center of the city and found the gate room filled with Marines who were hastily checking clips for their P-90s and adjusting straps on their packs as the gate whooshed back to life.

Sheppard shot a glance at Chuck who was running the gate board today and asked, "What's the situation?"

"Dr. Keller disappeared while they were on M3D-598 and now their going out after her."

Sheppard and Ronon exchanged the briefest of glances before they both raced down the stairs to the front of the group of BDU clad men that were waiting for their orders from Major Lorne. "Hold up a second Major," Sheppard called as he stepped up next to his second in command. "What's the low down?"

"You're back early sir," Lorne replied with a half grin. "Well Mr. Woolsey and Dr. McKay came back early. Apparently there was a Wraith attack on M3D-598 before they arrived for the negotiations. They were searching the wreckage for survivors when they lost sight of Dr. Keller. They ran a quick search for her and found nothing and she didn't respond to her radio so they hightailed it back here for some reinforcements."

"Good thinking Rodney," Sheppard said to the scientist who was now in full tactical gear. "Well you've got two more to help look now."

Lorne nodded at his commander and the big Satedan man next to him and gave the order to move out.


	3. Part I ch 3

Jennifer was getting tired of being dragged along behind the man, he was apparently in quite a hurry to get to wherever he was taking her and she was getting to the point where she just couldn't keep going on. Her pack was increasingly heavy and her feet and twisted ankle really hurt. She'd been trying to keep her weight off the twisted ankle but his pace wasn't helping the matter and she knew she was just making the situation worse.

"Would you please slow down?" She said around the gag.

The man whirled around and glared at her from behind his mask, cocking his head to one side as if he were trying to figure out what she'd said. So she repeated herself and he started walking towards her. Not sure of what he intended and suddenly wondering if he meant her harm for trying to speak, she debated trying to run away from him for a brief instant before he stopped in front of her.

He raised his hands slowly towards hers and motioned for her to move hers towards his. When she did, carefully in case he was going to grab her, she was surprised when he started untying her. "I said I won't hurt you," he rasped at her as he put the rope back into whatever pocket it had come from. "I just need your help."

That shocked her and her eyes went wide at his words. Daring to chance the freedom he'd given her she slowly lifted her hands and took the gag out of her mouth. "What?"

"I said, I need your help," he repeated as he reached up and pulled the hood off of his head.

Jennifer's shock was palpable as the person under the mask turned out to be a woman, not a man. "You're a woman?"

"Yes," she growled, her voice still raspy and rough like a person with laryngitis. "Now will you please come? I really need your help."

"Wait a minute. What kind of help do you need?"

The woman planted her hands on her hips and blinked at Keller, "You're a doctor right?"

"Yes."

"Good, then please come with me. It's not far now." She didn't wait for Keller's response and took off in the direction they had been going. Jennifer debated for a moment if she should follow the woman or not but she seemed sincere enough, even if she had essentially kidnapped her, so she hobbled after the strange woman.

They didn't go too far before they had reached the edge of a large canyon with a raging river at the bottom of it. The leather clad woman looked back to see if Keller was following her and then started down a very narrow path that led down the rocky wall into the canyon. Jennifer peered over the edge of the precipice and tried to gauge if the path was wide enough for her to navigate with her medical pack on her back. It looked very dangerous but she could probably make it as long as she didn't misstep. Taking a deep breath she started after the woman who was moving quickly down the ledge towards a rocky shelf that stood out from the wall quite a way into the canyon. Jennifer was looking down at the ground in front of her, watching small pebbles roll down the incline in front of her and hoping she didn't slip in them, so she didn't see when the woman leading the way disappeared from the trail. When she looked back up and couldn't see the woman, she gave a little worried squeak that made her cringe. She really shouldn't be so scared to be out in the wilds of this galaxy any more. After all, she'd now been kidnapped by cannibals, thrown in a cage, taken over by a crystalline entity and a Wraith spore, and several other things that would have sent a normal woman screaming for the hills. But she'd made it through everything this galaxy had thrown at her and she felt like she was a stronger woman for it. So this little set back shouldn't worry her at all. She could just turn around and go back to the gate none the worse for wear. But then the memory of how the woman had asked for help tickled the back of her mind and she knew that she couldn't just leave. So she hobbled her way farther down the track, setting cascades of pebbles and loose dirt in front of her.

She was nearing the big rocky shelf when the woman poked her head out of a crevice Keller hadn't seen previously. "This way, please hurry," she said rapidly.

Jennifer crawled over a big rock and found the hidden path that the woman had obviously taken when she disappeared from sight. "I'm coming, keep your shirt on," she mumbled as she worked her way over another boulder and onto a smooth rock ledge that was under the shelf. She never would have seen this from above and it would be hard for anyone to find this area unless they knew it was here so she had to mentally praise the woman on her choice of shelter. The woman was waiting for her on the ledge and she motioned for Keller to follow her into a low cave at the back of the ledge. Jennifer ducked her head and duck walked into it, not knowing how low the ceiling was but soon found herself in a cavern that was larger than she could have imagined just by looking at the outside. The woman was kneeling down next to a young girl who lay on the floor of the cave in a crumpled heap.

"I've found help little one, she'll fix you right up okay?" she rasped as she stroked the little girl's sweating forehead. She moved aside for Keller to get to the girl but she remained close by as if she would disappear if she left the woman's sight.

"What happened?" Jennifer asked as she knelt and began examining the girl. She obviously had a fever but she needed to know what else was wrong with the girl to diagnose her without the medical instruments she usually had at her disposal.

"I found her like this. Her leg is broken too," the woman said as she pulled the raggedy blanket off the girl's left leg and revealed a leg that was bent at an unnatural angle.

That gave Keller a much better picture of what had happened to the girl so she shooed the woman aside and went to work on finding out if the leg was reparable. She worked steadily and carefully, her hands soft but businesslike as she examined the length of the girl's leg. It seemed like it would be easy enough to fix but it needed to be re-aligned and set, so she moved to the area at the girl's feet and looked to the other woman. "You'll have to hold her down so I can align the bones. It's going to hurt her a lot so hold her still if you can." She grabbed a hold of the girl's leg once the other woman had settled the girl on her back and put her hands on her shoulders to hold her down. "Ready? One, two, three!" she said as she pulled and twisted the leg back into it's natural placement.

The girl woke from her daze and screamed in pain as the bones and cartilage were forced back to where they belonged, and then she slipped back into the fevered sleep she'd been in before. Keller took her temperature and felt her stomach before listening to her lungs and looking in her eyes with a small flashlight. When she'd scanned the girl from head to toe she knelt back on her heels and studied the other woman's face for a long moment.

"What is wrong with her?" the woman asked.

"I don't know yet," Jennifer answered before rooting around in her bag. She looked up at the other woman from under her bangs. "So who are you?"

"I…" the woman closed her mouth quickly and rose from the ground to begin pacing at the back of the cave. "Don't worry about that, just help her."

"No."

The woman blinked at Keller in surprise, she was obviously not used to people contradicting her and she strode across the dirt floor angrily. "Help her!" she demanded.

"No. Not until I get some answers. You owe me that much. I mean, you kidnapped me, dragged me all over the place, I twisted my ankle and you wouldn't even slow down. So no, I won't help her until you answer my questions." Jennifer tried to make her face look serious but what she was saying completely contradicted everything she'd ever been taught and nearly every principle she had as a doctor but she was tired and pissed off, so she felt justified in her demands.

The woman didn't answer but she did look at the girl for a long time before she nodded at the doctor. "Good, first of all, how long has she had the fever?"

"She's been with me for three days. I don't know how long before that."

"So she's not your daughter?" Keller asked as she turned back to the girl's side.

"No. I…I found her." The woman's voice hitched as she whispered out her words.

There was something she wasn't telling Keller, but that could wait. "So is she from this planet?"

Now the woman came back to the girl's side and sat quietly at her feet. She nodded her head yes and Jennifer could see the concern on the woman's face. She also looked extremely tired, as if she'd been awake for days on end. And she seemed to be rather nervous about something because her eyes kept darting to the cave entrance and back to the girl as if she'd need to grab the child and bolt at any instant. Keller took a moment to pretend to rummage through her bag again so that she could really study the strange woman who had held her captive.

She seemed to be rather athletic, not like a female body builder, but quite active and defined under the worn brown leather clothes she wore. The clothes themselves were a mystery too, Keller had seen a lot of the natives of the Pegasus galaxy and none of them wore leather like this. It seemed more suede like than leather, as if it had been coated in a layer of mud that never cracked off. The rough holster at the woman's side held a gun that Jennifer didn't expect to see on a human, it was a Wraith stunner. The other holster was empty but well worn so the woman obviously had other weapons. Her boots were mismatched and looked to be slightly large on her feet and they looked more like men's work boots than anything athletic or graceful.

Finally her gaze rested on the woman's face. Her skin was tanned as if she'd worked outside for most of her life, but it wasn't worn and haggard like some of the people she'd met. She also looked like she'd seen a great deal of sorrow in her time because the pain of her life was evident in her eyes.

"My name is Jennifer by the way. Jennifer Keller." Maybe if she made some indication of friendship to the woman she might get some more answers.

"Ashara," the woman croaked.

"That's pretty," Keller replied with a smile. "So where are you from?"

Ashara rose from the ground again and stalked towards the entrance of the cave as if moving away from the doctor would put an end to the questioning. "Far away," she growled and resumed her pacing near the opening.

Her demeanor wasn't just cold and aloof, but very defensive and Keller was reminded of another person she knew with that attitude. Wondering about the woman, she decided to casually question her to see if her hunch was right. "Okay, well, do you have family around?"

Ashara spun around with a sneer on her lips, "You ask too many questions. Just fix her and be done with it will you?"

"What's you're hurry?" That got no response so Jennifer stood up and walked to the cave entrance and poked her head out into the bright sunshine. Ashara grabbed her and pulled her roughly back into the cave, her hand moving to the stunner in her holster and her eyes wide. Keller stumbled back into the wall of the cave and glared at the other woman. "Yeah, I thought so. What are you hiding from?"

Ashara shot a glance out of the cave entrance and then lowered her gaze to the dirt-covered floor at her feet, "Wraith."

"You're a runner right?"

That got her attention and she spun to face Keller with her eyes wide, "How do you know of the runners?"

Jennifer settled herself back on the ground next to the girl, "I have a friend who used to be one." She left her response open ended in case this woman wasn't what she said she was and she made a show of preparing an injection for the girl and then pushing the needle into her too thin arm.

"Used to be? Then I am sorry for your loss."

Keller smiled at the other woman, "Oh no, he's fine. At least I think he is. Unless Todd decided to play his tricks on them again."

Ashara blinked at the doctor as she knelt by the edge of the opening to the cave, her gun still out and ready across her lap, "How is that possible? The Wraith do not release their prey."

"No they don't. Not unless you take the tracking device out of the prey." Keller said with a slightly smug smile. "Oh, and if you fight back and kill a whole lot of them they tend not to want you back."

Ashara seemed to be mulling that information over as she chewed her lip and fingered the stunner in her lap. Then she glanced down at the girl who had gotten some of the color back in her face and didn't appear to be in quite as much pain as before. "She looks better."

"I gave her a good dose of antibiotics and something to kill the pain in her leg. She'll sleep for most of the night and I think she'll be better in the morning. She really should come back to the city with me so I can put a proper cast on her leg." Keller put some of the medical supplies back in her bag and then folded her hands in her lap as she looked critically at Ashara. "You could come back too. I can take the tracker out of your back and then see if I can fix that lingering cough you have."

"Why would you do that?"

The question took Keller by surprise; she had expected the woman to be grateful for the offer, not suspicious. "Well, because I'm a doctor and that's what I'm supposed to do. Besides, you seem like a decent enough person, regardless of the whole kidnapping thing. You are taking care of her," she said pointing to the girl. "That in itself should be enough."

Ashara considered the offer with a scowl on her face as she once more began pacing at the cave mouth. "What then?"

"Well, I don't see any reason you couldn't go back to your people or whatever you choose to do."

"I have no people. They were all taken by the Wraith. I have no place left to go." The sadness in her eyes was something that Jennifer has seen all to often when dealing with the people that inhabited this galaxy. Between the Wraith and now the Replicators, and the war between them, there wasn't a lot of room left for the human population to call their own.

"Well, I'm sure we can find something for you. We have a lot of friends in this galaxy."

"You come from elsewhere?" She closed her eyes as if she were reading the pages of her memory. "You are the ones from the city of the ancients then?"

Jennifer nodded, "Yes, that's us. Huh, guess we have a bit of a reputation now."

Ashara nodded back, "People speak of the men who have come to revive the ancients and save us all from the Wraith." She curled her lip slyly, "That is a very big task. Are your people up to it?"

Knowing where the woman was going with her question Keller smiled and nodded at her, "Oh I think we can. Of course, it may be a bit easier if we had some good fighters on our side. But we're rather determined folk."

The other woman merely grunted and settled herself more comfortably on the floor. Keller did the same but nearer the girl and she reached into the outer pocket of her bag, pulling out two powerbars and handing one to Ashara. "It's not much but it's edible." The other woman studied the foil wrapped bar for a moment before she carefully tore the wrapper open and took an experimental nibble. "So, why did you kidnap me? You could have just asked for help you know."

Ashara laughed around the mouthful of food, "You'd be surprised how un-willing people are to help when the Wraith come looking for you. I've found it's best to just avoid people as best I can. This, however, was beyond my skills."

"Can I ask how you came to be here, with her?"

The other woman crumpled up the wrapper of the food bar and tucked it into her pocket, "I believe I owe you at least that much. I was skipping through planets, trying to find someplace to go to ground for a few days to rest when I came here. I followed the path to the village and watched them for a while. Yes, to answer your next question, they were all alive when I arrived. I took some food from an empty tent and I was heading back to the gate when they came for me. Three darts. Only three darts," she lowered her head to her hands sadly. "If I hadn't come here or if I hadn't stopped for food, they would all still be here."

Keller looked at Ashara, not sure if there was anything that she could say that would comfort the woman or make her feel any better. She could feel the regret pouring off the other woman even though there really wasn't anything she could have done. One thing Jennifer had learned in her time in Pegasus was that there was very little that would stop a hungry Wraith from getting to what they considered food. So she just sat, patiently waiting for the other woman to continue if she saw fit.

"I hid in the bushes and they passed right by me. They dropped off several of the drones first and then when they found the villagers instead of me they began culling them. The drones were rounding up the people that tried to escape. I saw the whole thing, listened to the screams." She stopped again and swallowed as if she were choking down the horror that she'd seen. The she raised her hand to her neck and tugged at the leather jacket that was still wrapped tightly around her neck as if the extra space would allow her to get her words out. She swallowed roughly a few more times and looked at Keller with obvious pain in her eyes. "I watched them feed on several people as they rounded them up. They came to her but they tossed her aside, perhaps because she was sick, who knows. They broke her leg as they threw her and left her for dead."

When Ashara had tugged at the collar of her jacket, Jennifer had seen something that intrigued her under the material but she wasn't sure if what she'd seen was real or not so she twisted up her courage and asked, "What happened to your neck?"

Ashara didn't say anything but slowly unfastened the jacket and opened the collar to reveal a vicious field of scar tissue bisected by an angry red slash that stretched nearly ear to ear on her neck. "I was running around the fire in our camp as a little girl and my brother tripped me. I landed on a burning log."

Jennifer winced in pain as if it had happened to her and suddenly the woman's raspy whisper of a voice made sense to her. Apparently her vocal cords had been damaged, either from the burn or from the more recent knife wound. "The uh…" she sputtered as she made a slicing motion with her finger to demonstrate the long scar.

"Wraith. They like to play with their food." Ashara replied with a sneer that melted into a grin. "They also do not like it when their food fights back."

Jennifer had to laugh at that because the woman's remark was so very similar to something Ronon would say, it was comical. Apparently all the people the Wraith used as sport had a very sharp, dry wit about them. Perhaps that was the one thing they all needed to keep themselves sane as they ran for their lives.

She was mulling that line of thought over when Ashara quickly and silently rose to her feet and pulled the Wraith stunner out of her holster. She cautiously crept towards the mouth of the cave motioning behind her for Keller to be quiet and stay put. She had just reached the line of sunlight that fell into the cave when a large dark blur flew through the mouth of the cave and tackled her. It took Jennifer a second to get past the surprise and terror of the massive form that had driven the woman to the ground with a loud grunt of pain before she realized that it was Ronon she was seeing wrestling with the woman in the dirt in front of her.

"Stop! Ronon stop!" Keller yelled as she rose to her feet and saw Colonel Sheppard and several other heavily armed men stepping forward onto the ledge and into the cave. "Hold on! She's a friend."

Ronon stopped actively trying to hurt the woman he'd pinned to the ground but he still had her restrained, his huge hands pinning her wrists to the ground and his body weight on top of Ashara assuring that she wasn't going to get up and make a run for it. Sheppard immediately went to Keller's side and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You okay doc?"

"I'm fine," she said as she went over to where Ronon still had Ashara pinned, "Ronon let her up."

The big Satedan man growled something and then pushed himself up on his elbows to look down at the person he had trapped under him. He studied her face looking for any sign of deception and found nothing but a blank stare on a face that was surprisingly female. He wouldn't have thought of a woman kidnapping the doctor but apparently, unless there was someone else around here he didn't know about, she was the one that had done it. "Why did you take her? Who are you?"

"Ronon, please get up," Keller said in a soft voice. She knew the man was quick to anger but she'd never seen him quite this upset before.

He did get up, slowly, and with his hand on his gun the entire time. When Ashara finally got up off the ground and started dusting herself off, Jennifer was surprised to see the woman was nearly as tall as Colonel Sheppard who was now making his way towards Ronan and her. The Colonel held out his hand with a big lopsided grin on his face, "Hi there, I'm Colonel John Sheppard. You've already met Ronon."

Ashara studied his face for a moment before she took his hand in hers, "Ashara Koth." Her gaze darted back and forth between the men behind Sheppard and the huge muscular man that had tackled her. Something about Sheppard put her at ease but she knew without a doubt that if she had intended any harm to these people he would be one of the first to attack her.

"Ashara, nice to meet you. Pretty name."

"Oh here we go again," Rodney mumbled from behind Sheppard.

John shot a look over his shoulder at the scientist before turning back to the woman in front of him. "You'll have to excuse our little overreaction there but we really don't like it when someone kidnaps our people. You wouldn't happen to have an explanation for that would you?"

"Colonel," Keller said softly pointing at the sleeping girl on the floor behind her. Sheppard's eyes went wide for a brief moment and he turned back to Ashara with a raised eyebrow. "She needed help for the girl and she overheard us talking. She must have figured out I'm a doctor so she…well, she took me. She didn't intend to harm me in any way, she just wanted help."

"Well, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I trust what Doctor Keller says. You probably could have _asked_ for our help though."

Ashara nodded grimly, "I understand that now. I prefer not to be around people for too long."

She didn't explain any farther and now Sheppard's curiosity was piqued. "All right, not a friendly sort. I'm still not getting something here. Would you mind expanding on that a little for me?"

"John," Keller said softly walking towards Ashara's side. "She's a runner."


	4. Part I ch 4

Sheppard's eyes went wide at that statement and his gaze darted between the woman beside Keller and the big Satedan man at his left. The realization of what Keller had said slowly wormed it's way through the angry mask on Ronon's face and Sheppard watched as his expression went from a scowl to enlightenment to memory to easy, albeit hesitant, friendship in just a few seconds. Then the rest of the gravity of that statement exploded in John's head and he spun around to Major Lorne, "Get back to the city and grab a full medical kit with surgical supplies and a stretcher. Bring a jumper."

Lorne hesitated for a second and then nodded at his commander and motioned for the rest of the armed men behind him to head back to the gate. Before he got out of the cave himself Sheppard thought of something else to add to his list of requirements, "Major, grab one of those containment canisters the demolition guys use too. And leave someone at the gate to warn us if the Wraith show."

Then he turned to Keller and looked at her critically to see if she had already figured out what needed to be done. She still looked slightly confused so he stepped over to her side and said in a low voice, "Do you really trust her?"

Jennifer thought about it for a brief second and nodded her head slowly, "I have no reason not to, yet. She seems to mean well and I don't think she's lying."

"Okay, then you're going to have to take that tracking device out of her." She didn't look concerned about that part. "You're going to have to do it here."

Now her eyes went wide, "But it's not…"

"I know, but we can't take her back to the city with that tracker in her. It has to come out here."

Jennifer chewed at her thumbnail for a moment as she thought through what Sheppard was telling her. He could see the logical progression of ideas dawning on her as she put together why he'd asked Lorne to bring back the full surgical kit and the stretcher. "Okay, I can do a rough job and then patch her up cleaner at the city. You are going to take them back aren't you? The girl needs a decent cast and more care than I can give her here."

John noticed the pleading look on Keller's face and knew that she wouldn't allow them, the young girl especially, to be left alone. "I think that would be fine." He nodded as he looked over at Ronon who was still staring at the woman with a look of disbelief on his face. "You okay over there big guy?"

Sheppard's voice seemed to snap Ronon out of his daze, "Yeah. Is it true?" he asked the woman in front of him.

Ashara cocked her head at the one they were calling Ronon and studied him for a moment. He had the look of a predator about him, wild and vicious, yet the gentle curve of his lips looked as if he were attempting to smile but didn't quite know how. "That I am a runner? Yes." Then it dawned on her who the man in front of her was, his carriage was that of someone that had fought for his whole life so he had to be the one that Jennifer had referred to when they spoke before. "You are the one that was a runner, yes?" Ronon nodded and her face split into a brilliant smile colored with hope. "Then it is possible to escape? They truly do not chase you now?"

Ronon's deep rumbling laugh echoed against the rock walls of the cave, "Oh they still chase me, but for a totally different set of reasons now. You can trust these people."

That simple statement was all that Ashara needed to have the weight of her life removed from her shoulders and she glanced around at all of the now smiling faces looking down at her as she sank to the floor in relief. She was so very tired of constantly having to be on the move to avoid the demons chasing her and the utter exhaustion of it all was what pulled her down as she settled as comfortably as she could to wait for the other men to return.

Ronon walked the short distance to her side and settled his large frame on the ground next to her, "How long?"

He didn't need to ask anything of her other than that. Runners very seldom ran into another runner but they all knew of the existence of others like themselves. You could tell vast quantities of information simply by finding out how long someone had eluded the Wraith. If you'd lasted for a while you were either one hell of a warrior or one hell of a fast sneaky bastard. Cowards never lasted long because they depended on other people to help shelter them, which of course led to a rapid kill for the Wraith because if the runner was found with an all you can eat buffet attached, well you ended up dead with the people you'd looked to for help.

"Almost two years. You?"

"Over seven." There was no boasting in his statement, just simple fact. He tilted his eyes towards her and tried to determine if she was a fighter or just a sneak. Her clothes led him to believe she was the latter. The brown of the leather would be good camouflage in dirt or trees and the scraped hide look of it would keep it from reflecting sunlight.

"So you're the Satedan then?" she rasped with a slight grin.

Ronon's eyebrow rose in question, "You've heard of me?"

Ashara nodded and leaned her head back against the stone wall behind her, "I met another runner not long after I was released. He spoke of your prowess and then warned me to turn tail and run if I ever met you. I think that was good advise."

The gravelly rasp of her voice made Ronon curious and he chanced a glance at her neck. When he noticed the wealth of burned tissue and the edge of the long slash mark under the edge of her collar he knew the answer to his question about what type of runner she'd been. "Maybe it was. How many others did you run across?"

"Two, one dead. Mostly I stayed to myself."

He nodded and rumbled something that could have been a response but probably wasn't so she just closed her eyes and tried to let some of the tension leave her body. She couldn't believe that she was finally safe, finally free of the Wraith and the urge to take the girl and run for her life threatened to explode out of her again but these people said they could help her so she stayed put. She felt herself drifting on the edge of sleep for a little while before the people the Colonel had sent back to their home returned.

When Sheppard, who had hunkered down near the mouth of the cave talking softly to one of the men from their party and Keller, perked up and tapped the radio in his ear she snapped back to full consciousness. "Go ahead Major." He listened for a moment and then nodded at the others in the cave, "Lorne's back and we can move out now. Ronon can you take the girl?"

The question was unnecessary as the Satedan had already risen from the floor and was gathering the girl up in his arms. They carefully made their way up the narrow path from the cave, the second man going first, then Keller and Ashara, followed by Ronon with the girl and Sheppard in the rear. Ashara had offered to carry Jennifer's pack since the small amount of belongings she had stored in the cave wouldn't interfere with the doctor's supplies and it would give Jennifer more stability on her twisted ankle. Once they had crested the top of the canyon Ashara stared in wonder at the small tube shaped ship that was landing a short distance away. It was obviously a friendly vehicle because the others were walking towards it with no hesitation. When they rounded the vehicle's backside a ramp lowered down to reveal the man that Sheppard had sent back to their home and the balding man that had been in the first party of three that Ashara had seen.

The balding man nodded at Sheppard and the rest of the party and then held out a hand towards Ashara, "You must be the runner then? I'm Richard Woolsey, I'm in charge of the city of Atlantis."

Ashara was becoming familiar with their custom of clasping hands in greeting and she held her own out to him, "I am Ashara Koth."

"Ah, yes. Well, Miss Koth, despite our rough start I think we can help you and your companion out. If you'd be so kind as to answer a few questions for me while Doctor Keller is getting herself ready to take that tracker out of you, I'd be much obliged."

She nodded her assent and he led her a short way away from the others asking her numerous questions about why she'd taken Dr. Keller the way she had as well as more about her past, her home and the status of the people of this world when she'd arrived. Soon she was tiring of all the questions but one of the men had come over to tell Mr. Woolsey that Jennifer was now ready for removing the tracker. Woolsey nodded and wandered off to consult with Sheppard while the man led Ashara back to the ramp of the ship. She stepped up the metal plating to find Jennifer inside with a mask over her face and gloves on her hands.

"It's not a surgical suite, but it'll have to do until I can get you home." She glanced over at Ronon who was hovering near the doorway watching with a look of fascination in his eyes. "Do they always put them in the same spot?"

"I don't know," he rumbled before turning his attention to the other runner. "Do you remember where they put the tracker in you?"

"Between my shoulders but lower, on my back."

Ronon nodded at Jennifer; apparently the Wraith did put the trackers in the same spot on all runners. "All right then, I'll need you to take off your jacket and shirt, or whatever you have on under that, so I can get to it."

Ashara nodded and unfastened the straps that held her jacket together. She handed the thick leather jacket to Ronon who carefully folded it and put it on the seat near the back of the ship. Under it she had a cloth tunic that had definitely seen better days. She hesitated for a moment before taking the shirt off too, which surprised both Keller and Ronon because she had nothing on under it and she didn't seem at all self conscious about it.

Jennifer actually blushed a little bit at the woman's bare chest; she hadn't thought to tell Lorne to get a surgical gown. "Well, uh, if you'd lie here I can get to work," she said indicating a bench-like seat in front of her. When Ashara was settled on the bench with her head cushioned by her crossed arms, she swabbed the woman's back and started to explain what she was going to do.

The procedure itself was quick, the scar from the placement was obvious to her and she found the tracker not too deep in the woman's flesh. She carefully excised the mechanism and dropped it into the open demolitions canister that Ronon was holding for her and then she cleaned the incision quickly and sutured it up so that they could leave before the Wraith showed up looking for their quarry. As she finished up the surgery Ronon went back outside to gather the rest of the team so they could leave.

Once Ashara was bandaged up and ready to be moved, Jennifer grabbed her jacket from the seat and placed a paper cloth over the woman's back so she wouldn't have to put the dirty tunic back on. "That should last you until we can get home and I can clean you up properly. Sorry I don't have a clean shirt for you."

"It's no trouble," the woman said with a downward gaze. "I cannot begin to thank you enough for your help."

Ashara slipped her jacket back on, holding it closed over her breasts as the others began climbing into the ship. Sheppard and Lorne carried a stretcher between them that the girl was laying on covered with a blanket. They set the stretcher down carefully on the bench seat Ashara had lay on and strapped her down so she wouldn't fall off. Once they were all settled in the ship Sheppard took the controls and they flew back to the stargate.


	5. Part I ch 5

They hovered near the active gate as Sheppard radioed back to the city and Ashara looked over the group of people in the ship. Sheppard, Lorne and the one called Rodney were in the front part of the cabin while Jennifer sat with the girl and Ronon sat next to her on the opposite bench. Mr. Woolsey had been leaning against the doorway that separated the front part of the cabin from the rear and now he was motioning for Jennifer to move over next to Ronon so he could sit facing Ashara.

"Once we get back to the city and Dr. Keller finishes cleaning you up we'll let you get some rest. I'm sure you could use some."

"I appreciate that," she replied softly. The weariness that she'd start to let take her had gotten to the point where she could barely keep her eyes open now.

"Of course," he said as he removed his glasses and wiped them carefully with a small cloth he'd pulled out of his pocket, "you will have to be kept under guard for a while. Not that we don't believe you are trustworthy, it's just a precaution."

Ronon leaned towards her and smiled at her, "They did the same thing to me. Don't worry about it."

"I understand completely. You do not know anything about me and your precaution is warranted. I will be grateful for whatever arrangements you make for me."

Woolsey visibly relaxed and grinned at her, "Thank you for your understanding in this. I promise you it won't be long. We'll give you quarters and provide you with food and clothing while we decide what to do with you."

That last statement was mildly ominous sounding but she allowed it to go without question. When the time came she would face whatever decision they had made with either a fight or gratitude, whatever the situation warranted. Woolsey got up and returned to the front of the ship with the others and Ashara leaned her head back against the metal hull and closed her eyes.

It wasn't long before they were back in the city. She hadn't seen their arrival but when they departed the ship and she found herself in a massive room with several other of the ships in it she allowed herself to marvel at the grandeur of the place around her. There were people waiting in the room with a wheeled stretcher for the girl to be carried on and once they situated her on it Jennifer led the group to the medical ward of the city. Ashara gawked at the beauty of the city; the soft lights and the odd bubbling tanks that lined the walls amused her. She'd seen plenty of Ancient architecture in her travels as a runner but she'd never really had a chance to see it up close and enjoy the magnificence of it.

Once Jennifer had settled her in the medical ward on a bed that was off to one side she allowed herself to relax as she waited for the doctor to tend the girl. She dozed for a while, leaning against the raised side of the bed so she wouldn't aggravate the stitches Jennifer had put in her back. When a gentle hand on her arm awakened her, she wondered how long she'd been asleep. That worried thought was quickly followed by another, which reminded her that she no longer needed to worry about sleeping for too long or too deeply.

"I'll get through this quickly so you can go get a shower and some real sleep," Jennifer said.

"How is the girl?"

"She seems alright. The fever was from the remnants of a disease that was going around a while ago but we know how to treat it so I gave her some medicine for that. I set her leg and it should be fine in a few weeks." The doctor grinned and pointed over her shoulder at where the girl was now sitting up, awake in the bed.

Ashara's face brightened and she hopped down off the bed she was on to wander to the girl's side. "How do you feel?" She hadn't spent a long time talking with the girl in the time they'd been alone. The child had been feverish and prone to sleeping so their conversations had consisted of Ashara reassuring her that she was safe and trying to get her to eat.

The child was probably ten years old, blonde with tanned skin and short practical hair. "I am much better. You are the one who cared for me?"

Ashara smiled, "Yes. I am glad you are better. I was quite worried about you."

The girl looked back and forth between the doctor and her nervously and Ashara could see the sadness in her eyes. "Are my parents okay? Can you take me to them?"

Ashara lowered her eyes and tried to think of a way to tell the girl the bad news. She was about to just blurt out what had happened when Jennifer stepped up, "Sweetie, we're going to look for your parents really hard but for right now you're going to stay here with us, okay?" Keller's face showed the obvious pain she felt at lying to the girl but at this point it was probably better for her well being than giving her the extra grief that the truth would. "I'm Jennifer by the way. I'm a doctor and I'm going to take good care of you while you're here with us."

The girl looked as if she were on the verge of panic but she was probably old enough to know that life wasn't easy in this galaxy with the Wraith culling the human population. "My name is Vasti. Do…do you think my parents will be here soon? I miss my mother."

"I'm sure that your mother misses you as well," Ashara said gently, "And I know she will do everything she can to come back to you. I know I certainly would if I were taken away from my daughter." She smiled down at the girl that she'd been caring for and for just a moment she was homesick. "And my name is Ashara. I will make sure that you are well taken care of until we find out what happened to your parents. Will that be all right with you?"

Vasti seemed to mull the idea over for a while and her face went through an odd range of emotions. The women watching her could tell she was realizing that she would likely never see her parents again and the thought of being alone obviously terrified her. When she finally came to a conclusion she nodded slowly and reached for Ashara's hand. "Thank you for helping me."

Suddenly feeling the joy a mother feels for her own child Ashara stroked the girl's hair and pulled her into a hug, "We'll be fine you and I."

"Vasti, if you don't mind, I'm going to let you get some rest while I take care of Ashara. I'm going to keep you here tonight but tomorrow we'll get you settled into a nice room okay?" Jennifer's tone was caring but businesslike and the little girl nodded as she settled back down in the bed.

Once the girl was starting to doze back off again she led the other woman back over to the other side of the ward and motioned for her to hop up on a platform that was centered in a ring of machinery. "I'm going to scan your body to make sure there's nothing that would be considered dangerous to us. You know like more trackers or anything that shouldn't be there. You won't feel a thing." The explanation wasn't really necessary but Keller liked to keep her patients informed on what she was doing to them.

She started the Ancient scanner up and the green light slid over Ashara's body slowly. It passed over her several times and Keller monitored the information it was getting on a computer. Her face crinkled in concern and then a smile lit up her face as she figured out what the machine was telling her. Once the scan was done she had Ashara sit back up and she handed her a green surgical gown. "If you don't mind changing into that, I'd like to make sure that the sutures I put in you are secure and then I'd like to take a closer look at that scar tissue on your neck."

As Ashara stepped behind a screen and changed into the gown Jennifer mulled over the other thoughts she'd had as she reviewed the scan. Taking a chance she blurted out, "I think I can help you get your voice back."

"You could do that?" Ashara rasped as she stepped back into the main room. It had been so long since she'd actually been able to speak unhindered that the prospect of it thrilled her. She'd had some troubles after the accident with the burning log as a child but she'd still had her voice. It was the Wraith's slicing her throat open that had damaged the vocal chords and left her with the gravelly whisper she had currently. It didn't hurt her as much to speak now as it had at first, but she'd also gone so long with no one to talk to for so long that her vocal chords hadn't really had much of a work out.

"It shouldn't be too difficult, it looks like they just detached a few things when they cut you. I should be able to repair the damage with a minor surgery." Jennifer smiled at the other woman, she could feel the excitement over the prospect of being normal again wash off Ashara and it made her happy that she could be of help. The woman had obviously been through a very tough time and she really wanted to help bring the runner back to a more normal life. "As for your back, you seem to be fine, I think I can leave it the way it is. The stitches will have to come out in a few days but that's no problem. Other than that, you look extremely healthy and I can give you a clean bill of health." She slid the rubber gloves she'd been wearing off and pitched them in a trashcan. "I'll see if they've gotten you a room yet and you can get a nice hot shower and some sleep."

XxXxXxXxXx

One of the armed men led Ashara to a nice sized room in the main section of the city and advised her that he would be waiting outside her door for precaution. The way he said it was kind and let her know that he would prefer doing something else but she could understand why these people were hesitant to let her have the run of the place. She would do the same if they were in her territory. She thanked him and closed the door behind her. Inside she found the plain bed stacked with towels and several pairs of clothing that looked like they would fit her. She mentally reminded herself to thank Jennifer for the kindness and she set about exploring the small room.

There was a narrow window on one wall and she looked out it to find a beautiful view of the city below her. She was amazed to find herself so high up in the air and as she tried to see all the way down to the piers below she marveled at just how large this place was. People in her village had spoken of the glorious city the Ancients had once inhabited but no one had actually seen it. Tearing herself away from the spectacular view she continued through the room to find a small bathroom with a shower on one side of it. Desperately wanting to bathe herself for the first time in a long time she hastily stripped off her clothes and stepped into the warm cascading water.

She stood there for a long time, letting the steam build up and the heat of the pounding water relax her muscles for the first time in a very long while. She let her mind drift over the past years of her life and the horror she'd had to face at the hands of the Wraith. The sorrow of it all overwhelmed her and soon tears she hadn't had the time to shed while she ran joined the water of the shower. Eventually the water started to go cold and she turned it off, toweled herself off with a soft fluffy towel and then she climbed into the bed and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.


	6. Part I ch 6

_One week later:_

Ashara opened the door of her room to find a different man posted outside her door. He snapped to attention as the door hissed open and she smiled at him. "Could we get something to eat? I'm starving." She'd seen several different Marines stationed to watch her in the time since they'd brought her here and while she could understand their need to make sure they knew what she was doing, it was beginning to feel like she was a prisoner. Mostly they left her alone in her room but she'd been taken to Mr. Woolsey's office several times for questioning, always with armed escorts.

He chuckled at her request and nodded, "Sure, it's past breakfast time but there's usually something to find in the mess. Follow me." He allowed her to walk beside him instead of treating her as if she were under arrest and for that she thanked him. He'd been told by Colonel Sheppard to treat the woman with respect but to make sure she didn't wander off or get into any trouble. "So uh…you were a runner? Like Ronon was?"

"Yes."

He looked over at her with a light of respect in his gaze; "Bet you killed a lot of Wraith in your time."

"Some. I found it best to just avoid them. If one was killed several more came to hunt me. It was best to just stay as far away from them as I could." She sighed, "But sometimes I had to kill."

When they entered the large hall that was used as the cafeteria he led her to the food service area and watched as she picked several items to put on her tray. He'd noticed Colonel Sheppard and his team on the other side of the room and waved at them and Sheppard had waved back motioning him over to the table.

"Ashara, did you sleep well?" Sheppard asked with a smirk.

"Yes, thank you very much. It's been so long since I've not had to move constantly, I feel as if I were a new person." She hadn't seen much of the people that had brought her here in the past week, other than Jennifer of course. Apparently they were all assigned to other tasks that left them away from the city much of their time.

"It's amazing how good you can feel after a shower and a good night's sleep isn't it?" Ronon rumbled as he reached over and took something off of the Colonel's tray.

Sheppard glared at the Satedan and then turned back to the people standing at the table, "Why don't you join us? Stadler you can go do whatever you need to do." The man who had escorted her to the mess saluted Sheppard and turned to go as she made her way around the table to an empty chair. "Oh, and I'm sorry I don't think you've been formally introduced to everyone. Ashara Koth, this is Rodney McKay, head of science here, Ronon Dex, and Teyla Emmagen of the Athosians."

She nodded her head at each of them and started to eat the food on her tray carefully. Teyla smiled at her warmly and watched the woman's motions as she savored the food before her. "If I may ask Ashara, what people are you from? Perhaps I know of them."

"My people are the Khorai," she murmured around a mouthful of food.

Teyla nodded as the woman ate. "I know of them. They are excellent craftsmen. I have some of your lambskin at home with my people. I am very sorry to hear of the attack then."

Ronon's eyes had gone wide at the mention of the Khorai name. The people of the Khorai were known to be great hunters, often trekking to other planets to avail themselves of the game. "Do you hunt then?" he asked when she'd stopped chewing.

"Yes, my brother and I often went out. And my mother was one of our best etchers." The homesick look on her face made Ronon's heart ache, he knew exactly what she was feeling and it never got any better. Sheppard and Rodney who were unaware of many of the peoples of this galaxy simply listened and nodded as if they understood.

Teyla caught the confused looks from them and enlightened them. "The Khorai are some of the best hunters in this galaxy. They are also the finest leather tanners we know of. Their work is highly prized throughout the galaxy." Once she'd explained that to them she turned back to Ashara, "Perhaps, once you are ready, you would like to come visit with my people. You would fit in quite well there."

Ashara nodded, "I would like that. The Athosian people have long been our friends."

"Do you know if any of your people are still around?" Sheppard asked carefully.

She shook her head and reached for the glass of water in front of her. "When the Wraith woke we scattered. My people are nomadic during the times the Wraith are awake. Groups of the Khorai go to many worlds so that we are not all captured and we can continue our traditions. There were only fifty or so of us left on our home planet when they came. All of us were captured." She stopped for a moment, swallowing loudly and choking down some more water. "We were held in a large room for several days before they started coming for us. I was one of the last so I can only assume that the rest of the group is gone."

"Can you meet up with another group of your people?" McKay asked, finally joining the conversation.

She shrugged and picked at the food in front of her, "Perhaps in time. We all wander from place to place and don't keep track of the others. It's safer that way."

"Makes sense," Ronon agreed.

"If you would choose it, you are welcome to stay on New Athos with my people," Teyla offered. "Another hunter is always welcome and I am sure that you would find people with much in common there." For some reason she felt like she needed to make friends with this woman. Perhaps it was the similarities between Ashara and Ronon who was now one of her closest confidantes.

"Don't go rushing her out of my care just yet Teyla," Jennifer said with a chuckle as she joined the group at the table. "I think I can repair the damage to her throat and I'm pretty sure she'd like to have her voice back." She smiled at the Khorai woman and nodded at her. They had been discussing the possibilities of the repairs and Jennifer was encouraging Ashara to go ahead with the surgery.

Ashara's fingers strayed to the mess of scar tissue that marred her throat and she nodded hesitantly. It seemed to her like these people were offering too many promises that they probably wouldn't keep and she really didn't want to get her hopes up. The reality of her life was that more often than not someone who offered something grand like that was only out for something that would cost her greatly.

"That is wonderful!" Teyla beamed. "Well, you are welcome to come visit whenever you feel ready. I tend to go quite often now that my son is staying with his father."

"How's Kanaan doing these days?" Sheppard asked.

"He is quite well. I believe that caring for Torren has helped him recover greatly." She smiled as she thought about the man she loved and her son. "I will see them soon and pass on your regards to him."

"Good," Sheppard said as he pushed his chair back from the table and stood up. "Hey Ashara, would you be interested in joining us at the shooting range? If you're a good hunter I bet you'd like some of the weapons we have around here."

She nodded at him and tossed her napkin onto her tray, "That sounds very interesting. Thank you."

The group left the cafeteria and Sheppard led the way through the hallways of the city. "So what kind of weapons do your people use primarily?" he asked Ashara with a grin. There was always a chance that some people of this galaxy would have something that could benefit not only the Atlantis teams but the people back home too.

"Generally we prefer bow and arrow but we do use other weapons as well," she replied.

Sheppard tried not to let the disappointment show on his face but the smile he had faded and he nodded at her, "Bow and arrow huh?"

Ashara wondered why that disappointed him and she looked at Ronon for any enlightenment. He was grinning at Sheppard and an amused look passed between him and Teyla. "Yes, we prefer them as they are easier to carry long distances and silent."

"So no death rays huh?" Sheppard joked as he led them into a huge open room that housed their shooting range. The area had probably been a laboratory at one point but that use had long since ended and now they had cleared the machinery out of it and set targets at one end of the room and barriers on the other. Sheppard walked to a door panel on one side of the room and it opened to reveal an armory inside of it.

Ashara's eyes went wide at the vast array of machinery in the room. It housed everything from the large Wraith stun rifles to small hand guns and a large assortment of knives as well as the familiar compact guns most of the Marines carried. "This is quite impressive," she said softly.

Ronon and Teyla stood near the door watching with the same amusement in their expressions as they had before. Sheppard started at one end of the room and named the various types of guns as he worked his way across the room. When he'd finished he looked to the Khorai woman, "So anything catch your eye?"

"I would be interested in trying them all."

The Colonel's grin widened at her response, "Well that's my kind of answer. How about we start off small?" He plucked several of the small handguns off shelves and then went to one of the low barriers where he laid them out and motioned for Ashara to step up beside him. "This one's pretty light, not much recoil to it. Just aim down at the target and have at it." He handed her a pair of safety glasses and a set of ear protectors and he stepped back to let her try the gun.

Once she'd put the safety gear on she studied the gun in her hand for a moment and raised it in front of her and squeezed off a shot. The bullet hit the target just outside the bulls-eye in the middle of the paper. She frowned at the result and cocked her head to one side studying the invisible path the bullet had taken. Then she raised the gun again and squeezed off three more shots in rapid fire, each of them hitting near the center of the target.

Sheppard's expression went from dazed to a wide grin as he watched her actions. This woman obviously knew how to handle a weapon and to compensate for the change in trajectory the bullet took. "Well, I guess we should move on to something a little bigger then huh?" He gathered the various handguns and turned to return them to their places.

Ronon grinned and stepped forward to join the woman, "Have you used one of these?" he asked pulling the gun from his own holster.

"I have seen one but not used it." She replied as she took the heavy gun from him. If she had been any smaller of a person her hand wouldn't fit on the gun at all. She sighted down the lane and shot Ronon's energy gun, which blew a huge hole into the target, singeing the cinderblock wall behind it. She smiled appreciatively at the result and carefully handed the gun back to the Satedan. "Very effective. I can see why you prefer that."

"Oh you're showing off now huh?" Sheppard teased as he returned to the barrier and put a P-90 on the ledge. "We'd all like to get our hands on a batch of those babies but they're hard to come by. So, we just settle for these." He popped a clip into the gun and gave her a quick run down of the mechanics of the gun before handing it to her and stepping back to allow her to try it.

Ronon was finishing changing out the target and Ashara watched as the paper slid down a long track to the other end of the lane. The she flipped the safety switch off and let a short burst of bullets fly from the gun. She squeezed off several bursts before putting the gun back down and turning to the Colonel. "I don't think I like that as much as the first one. I feel like I have no control of it."

Ronon chuckled and nodded at her, "I don't like them either. One bullet is easy to control, many at once isn't."

Sheppard was obviously considering what they'd said. "Well we've found that these have been effective for the situations we've encountered. I can see where your style would be effective too though. I guess everyone has their own preferences."

Teyla walked up to the others and voiced her own opinion, "I did not like the P-90 at first either but I have found that it is often better to have more firepower than not enough. The Wraith are very hard kills and it often takes a great deal of bullets to kill one."

Sheppard nodded at Teyla's words, "Anyway, there is a reason to this little exercise," he said gesturing to the shooting range. "Ronon suggested that perhaps, you might be interested in joining us here and assisting one of our teams like he does. You obviously have a motivation to help us against the Wraith and it would probably benefit you as well. We travel to a lot of different planets and there's a good possibility that we'd encounter some of your people along the way."

Ashara glanced from face to face of the people around her and she could see very different reasons for this request on their faces. Teyla looked as if just needed another female that she could confide in. Ronon looked as if he wanted someone who had experienced what he had. And Sheppard looked as if he were genuinely trying to help her out. "I appreciate this offer. However, I promised Vasti that I would take care of her. She has no one now."

The Colonel nodded and reached for the gun to return it to it's storage place, "All right then. If that's what you think is best for you. But if you ever reconsider, we'd be happy to have you."


	7. Part I ch 7

_Seven Months Later:_

"Again?"

"John, surely you know how this works at your age. I will not let my people cease to exist. And Kanaan will not either. So yes, again." Teyla pushed her lunch tray away from her and reached for the cup of tea she'd been sipping at.

Sheppard rolled his eyes and fought with the happiness he felt for his friend. He knew that she and Kanaan had been discussing having another child for a while now and the news of her second pregnancy was very welcome. Ronon scooped Teyla up in his arms and whirled her around in the air. "Put me down you big oaf!" she said as she laughed.

He beamed at her as he did put her back on her feet, "Does Torren know yet? He'll be very excited about being a big brother." Teyla's son was just over a year old now and everyone in Atlantis doted on the boy, especially Ronon.

"We have spoken about it in his presence but I do not think he understands it yet. But I have quite a long wait ahead of me and he will be nearly two before there is a baby to be excited over." She was glad to see her friends accept the news with smiles. The last time she'd announced a pregnancy it was a different reaction and she was afraid that she would get that negativity this time as well. Their happiness would ease the next announcement she was going to make to some degree. "Kanaan and I have also spoken of other things."

Sheppard raised an eyebrow at her and waited until she finished what she was going to say. He could tell by how she looked down at her hands that it probably wasn't anything he really wanted to hear but he would wait to find out what it was before reacting.

"I think it would be best if I returned to New Athos full time. My people need me and my son needs a mother." Ronon said nothing but his smile faded as he digested her words. John's face showed nothing at all and that worried her. "I have spoken with Mr. Woolsey about this and he understands my request and will allow me to leave. Now all I need is your blessing John."

John frowned at her across the table, "You don't need my blessing for anything Teyla. If you feel you need to be with your people, go. I won't stand in your way."

Teyla studied his face and tried to figure out what he was thinking but John Sheppard had long ago perfected his poker face and she could determine nothing of his mood. "I will stay with you for a while, until it becomes dangerous to the baby. I am sorry to spring this on you John. I wish that I had given you more warning of my decision." She put a hand over his and tried to read something in his eyes but they were blank.

"Teyla, you're a big girl and you can make your own choices." He smiled at her with his usual lopsided grin, "I don't remember you ever signing a contract or promising you'd stay with us forever so there's nothing to apologize for. You are a free agent and you can go where you want." He rolled his hand over under hers and wrapped his fingers around hers. "But you better spend some time here too. I like camping as much as the next guy but the Athosian idea of a bed just kills my back and I don't enjoy sleeping on the ground as much as Chewie."

Ronon laughed at Sheppard's remark and dropped his hand on the table, "You just don't know the secret to it. I keep telling you if you'd ever come out with us I'll show you the best place in the world to get a good night's sleep." He'd been spending most his free time on New Athos exploring the woods and hunting with Halling and Ashara.

Since the Replicators had been eradicated and the Wraith were still licking their wounds from the decimation of their numbers by the Replicators, there really hadn't been a great deal of trouble for the Atlantis teams. They had found several good Alpha sites to use in case they had to re-locate the city again, but that prospect didn't seem too likely. Now they had good trade going with not only the reestablished Athosian population but with several other villages nearby. The few times that they had Wraith activity to deal with or Michael threw another mutation at them; they handled it and went back to their lives. Woolsey had even sent a large portion of the military presence from the city back to Earth as the constant need for more guns waned. So now boredom was setting in and they were looking to other places for pastimes. Ronon had accompanied Teyla to New Athos for a few days several months ago and had been asked to join Halling's group of hunters as they sought meat for the village. He'd enjoyed himself immensely and had returned to the planet several times since then. He'd also accompanied Ashara and a few of the more experienced hunters to other worlds as well for game that Ashara had used for leather.

John suspected that the big Satedan man was more than a little smitten with the Khorai woman so he grinned at his friend, "I don't think that I would want to interrupt your 'alone time' with Ashara so I'll just pass on that."

Ronon's neck actually reddened a little and he blinked at Sheppard's comment. "I don't…"

Sheppard laughed at that, "Oh don't even deny it! We know you better than that."

Teyla's laughter joined John's and they both teased Ronon about his attention to the woman for a while until Rodney joined them at the table. "Now what did I miss?" he asked as he sat down beside Ronon.

"Not much," John replied. "Teyla's pregnant again, Ronon's in love and we're on our own."

"What?" Rodney's eyes bugged out a little as he glanced from Sheppard to Teyla to Ronon. "When did this all happen? Why doesn't anyone ever tell me?"

"Relax Rodney," Sheppard said as he leaned back in his chair. "Teyla just told us she's pregnant again about five minutes ago. You didn't miss anything."

"Huh, well congratulations then," Rodney said with a wave of his hand at Teyla. "Now what's this about Ronon being in love?"

"I'm not in love," Ronon growled.

"Well you do spend an awful lot of time with her, how else do you explain it?" Sheppard grinned slyly at his friend.

"I just…she's…well…" the sputtering amused everyone else at the table and they all got a good laugh from it.

"See? First sign of being in love is not being able to talk. Second sign is spending all your time together. I'm not sure we'd want to see the third sign since it involves wearing each other's clothes. So just admit it and move on," John ticked off points on his fingers as he spoke and then crossed his arms over his chest defying the other man to contradict him.

"He's right you know," Rodney agreed. "You all know how I was when I was trying to hide it. But now I admit it and I feel much better for it."

Teyla nodded at the scientist, "And we are all very happy for you two. Now see Ronon, confession is good for the soul."

Ronon knew he was defeated so he lowered his head and softly banged his forehead against the table several times. "I hate you."

NOTE:

This is the end of the first of at least three (so far) sections of this larger tale. The leather clad dread lock wearing plot bunny that's shaking the crap out of my brain right now won't let this one end, perhaps in an effort to stave off the incredible depression that came from the cancellation announcement. I'm trying to make this big thing come out in a coherant manner but it's bouncing back and forth in the SGA universe so bear with me while I try to make it all make sense. I've re-read the second two parts of it and it all kinda weaves together even though it jumps back and forth. Just go with it kay?

So I've had a few requests for more Keller/McKay and rest assured that it's coming! I promise. I'm answering the voices in my head and for a while they've been talking in Ashara's voice. But Ash is rapidly becomming a good friend to Keller who has a secret about a guy...draw your own conclusions there.

So, since I'm lousy with titles I'm just going to start posting the next part of this on the end of the part here. Plus, easier to find...YAY!

If anyone's got any suggestions as to what's going to happen next, lemme know. I love new things to make the bunnies hop!


	8. Part II Ch 1

When she opened her eyes and found herself in the medical ward of the city, Ashara Koth was momentarily disoriented. Then as her vision cleared it slowly came back to her why she was here and what had happened. She took stock of her body and the new pains that inhabited it and she moved to sit up in the bed. The wave of nausea that hit her made her stop her motion before she was all the way up and she flopped back down on the bed heavily, drawing the attention of the nurse nearby.

"Oh you're up. Don't try moving just yet, it takes a while for the anesthesia to wear off." The woman smiled at her and held up a finger. "I'll get Dr. Keller, hang on a second."

The woman trotted off and Ashara waited patiently for Keller to come to her bedside. As she lay there she tried to swallow around the lump in her throat and the raw feeling she had, but her throat was very dry. She glanced around looking for some water or something within reach and found nothing.

"Hey there," Jennifer beamed as she strode up to the bed. "Don't try talking just yet, you need to let that sit for a while. I brought you some ice, let it melt in your mouth and swallow carefully." She handed Ashara the cup of ice and watched as the other woman put one of the small chips in her mouth. "Well it looks like everything is back where it needs to be. As long as you don't go abusing yourself for the next five days or so and it has time to heal, you should be back to normal."

Ashara let the cold water soothe her dry tongue and as it began to trickle down the back of her throat she immediately felt better. She nodded at Jennifer and slid another chip into her mouth. The doctor was starting to turn away from the bed and Ashara stopped her with a hand on her wrist, "How long?" she mouthed.

"Well, I think you're probably going to be ready to get out of here tomorrow. You _will_ stay the night so I can watch you," she teased wagging a finger at the woman in the bed. "But, after that, as long as you're feeling okay and you promise not to talk if you can help it and that you'll come back in a few days for me to check you out, well no reason you can't go on and do your own thing." Jennifer was taking it easy on the woman because if she could survive on the run from the Wraith for two years she could probably take care of herself and wouldn't need to be babied. Plus if Ronon's past visits to the infirmary were any indication on how stubborn ex-runners would be, then Ashara wouldn't let herself be bed ridden for more than a few hours.

Ashara looked forlorn in an attempt to get herself out of the bed that much faster but Jennifer just scowled at her so she nodded at her with a shrug. "Fine, you win." She wasn't about to try talking just yet so she mouthed the words and gestured. Jennifer had told her before the surgery that if she started talking right after the surgery she would tear the tissue that the procedure was trying to repair. It had been nearly two years since she'd been able to speak normally so she was eager to have that small part of her life returned.

"Now, rest for a while and let the anesthetic wear off, then we'll see if we can't get some soup into you." Keller patted the woman on the hand and walked away from the bed.

Ashara settled back down in the bed and closed her eyes against the bright harsh light of the medical bay. Letting her mind drift over the past few weeks of her life she couldn't help but be excited. She'd spent two years on the run from the Wraith after watching many of the people she loved be captured by the life sucking demons of this galaxy. If that wasn't enough to scar her for life, they had "played" with her for several days, punishing her for her defiance of them by beating her until she passed out from it and finally slitting her throat before they put the tracking device in her back and setting her on a desolate planet with nothing but the clothes on her back. But that wasn't the worst of it. What they had done to her left her with nightmares and a deep terror that she often woke screaming in the night from.

Shoving the memories of her abuse away from her she turned her mind to the future and what she could look forward to. Teyla had already taken her and Vasti to New Athos to meet the rest of the Athosian people. She'd met several of the villagers and found some new friends amongst them. One of the women, Geah, had taken a liking to Vasti immediately and the little girl had latched onto the matronly woman in turn. Teyla had mentioned as they left that Geah had lost her daughter to the Wraith a while ago and they both thought that it might be beneficial to both the child and the mother to spend time together. Ashara was by no means cut out to be a mother to a ten year old so it made sense to trust the girl's care to Geah. She would much rather be free to come and go as she pleased as well as have the ability to hunt without worrying about a child.

When Teyla had introduced her to Halling, who was the de facto leader while Teyla spent her time in Atlantis, he had recognized the benefit of a willing hunter for the village. The game around the village was plentiful but the Athosians by nature were farmers and few of their remaining number were good enough hunters to supply the whole village with fresh meat. A few of the men and two of the younger women were currently handling the hunting for the Athosians but none of them were skilled enough to bring back more than a few rabbits at a time. So Ashara had eagerly agreed to teach them how to better their hunting skills and to help out in any other way she could.

She had also spent some time with the Athosian craftspeople. They were all quite eager to learn some of the Khorai leatherworking techniques and she had promised to show them what little of the trade she knew. Her mother and father had done much more leatherwork than she had. Her mother was one of the best etchers of the Khorai people and her work was very sought after in the marketplaces across the galaxy but Ashara had none of her talent. Her brother, Jiman, had apprenticed with their father and some of the other tanners and he showed aptitude but no desire to spend hours a day scraping hides and working it for market. So she and Jiman had tried their hand at hunting and found an enthusiasm as well as proficiency. Because the Khorai people relied primarily on their leather goods as income and trade for food and medicine they needed more hides than just what came from their food sources so they sent hunting parties to various other planets where game was plentiful and there were no indigenous people around.

So Ashara had agreed to make herself a part of the Athosian village for a time until she felt a need to move on. Halling had been ecstatic at the prospect and had promised her he would have a shelter ready for her when she arrived. When Teyla informed him of the planned surgery to correct the damage that the Wraith had done to her throat he had wished her a speedy recovery and told her that Dr. Keller was an excellent physician. She wondered how much time she would have to spend tutoring the other hunters before she could have the opportunity to just go out on her own. It amused her that she wanted to be alone after so long being forced into solitude. But she also hadn't been able to hunt for more than anything she could eat on the move either and that was something she'd been longing to do for quite a while. In a while her thoughts drifted off to places far away and she fell asleep.


	9. Part II Ch 2

"C'mon, it'll be fun, you'll see!" Jennifer laughed as she pulled Ashara down the hallway of the city.

Ashara rolled her eyes but let herself be dragged along behind the doctor. Jennifer had been trying to get Ashara to consent to this ritual she called a 'make-over' since shortly after her surgery. The two women had become good friends and Jennifer spent a lot of her free time introducing Ashara to various members of the city and some of the Earth cultures. One thing she had suggested very strongly was this 'make-over'.

Ashara had kept her hair tied back in a braid for many years, letting it grow long. It was convenient for hunting trips because it wouldn't blow in her face and she didn't need to do much to it if she was away from home. Unfortunately the Wraith had decided that part of their torture of her would involve cutting her hair nearly to her scalp in rough patches with a dull knife. When it had started growing out again she hadn't had the time or the inclination to care for it so once it was long enough to braid again she did so. So when she first arrived at Atlantis when she had taken it down from the braid it had begun falling out in chunks and she had once more taken a knife to it to try to tame the unruly mess. Jennifer had been shocked when she found Ashara one morning with her now shorn hair falling about her face. Insisting that something must be done about the problem she had cajoled the Khorai woman until she relented and followed her to the Botany lab.

Apparently one of the botanists had put herself through school back on Earth by working as a beautician and the woman had consented to the occasional haircutting session for the base personnel. The men didn't bother her too much because they mostly kept their own hair trimmed down but the women liked to experiment with new styles sometimes. So Dr. Kwan kept her styling skills up and the women of the base kept their morale up.

They stumbled into the Botany lab to find the petite Korean scientist waiting for them. "Right on time," she grinned and motioned for Ashara to sit in the chair she had in front of her. "Oh, yes indeed you need some work." She said several things in Korean, none of which Ashara understood and then pulled the other woman back out of the chair and over to a sink where she indicated that Ashara should bend over so Kwan could wash her hair.

"So what did you have in mind for her?" Jennifer asked. The curiosity on her face amused Ashara who could see her friend if she looked under her arm.

"You like it not too short right? So you can put it back yes?" The botanist was standing on a box and running warm water over the back of Ashara's head and pouring shampoo into her palm. The head under the sink nodded and she started massaging the shampoo into Ashara's hair. "Oh you need conditioner bad! Probably hard to condition when you run from the Wraith huh? Okay, I make this layers, very pretty but easy to take care of."

Ashara was pretty helpless at the moment so she shrugged and chanced another glance at Jennifer. The doctor was laughing behind her hand and nodding at the botanist's words. "Definitely make her beautiful, she needs to get out and meet some of the men in the city. Now who do you think we can hook her up with?"

Dr. Kwan giggled as she washed Ashara's hair, "Maybe you set her up with that nice Colonel Sheppard? I hear he like women from this galaxy." She finished rinsing the shampoo out of the woman's hair and slathered a handful of conditioner into it before hopping down off the box and patting Ashara on the shoulder, "You stay there for a few minutes while that soak in." She dried her hands off on the towel that she had draped over her shoulder and wandered over to Jennifer's side where they proceeded to speculate over the various men in the city that would be attracted to the Khorai woman.

Ashara really didn't want to contradict any of their suggestions, she didn't want to offend her friends and she certainly wouldn't argue with having a love life. It had been a very long time since she'd been with a man and the yearning to have that again was strong. Besides, most of the men they were suggesting were quite handsome and she couldn't argue with their choices. The only problem she had was that she wasn't attractive herself. She was taller than most women and that was a problem in and of itself, she'd found that most men had a hard time being attracted to a woman that they had to look up to. Her hair, at the moment, was horrible. The damage that had been done to it by the Wraith and by herself left the washed out brown locks stringy and dry, much like a pile of straw. And finally her physical appearance wasn't much to look at. She hadn't taken after her mother who was tall, yet stunningly beautiful. No, her looks came more from her father who was gruff and hard with sharp angles and little softness. Add the mass of scar tissue that wrapped her throat and the angry scar from the Wraith knife and she was certainly not a prize that any man would consider as a potential lover.

The two other women finished up their chatting and Dr. Kwan came back to the sink to rinse the conditioner out of Ashara's hair. When she'd finished she draped a towel over the woman's shoulders and led her to the chair she'd been in before. When the Khorai woman was settled Dr. Kwan grabbed a pair of scissors and a comb off a table and went to work on her hair. In twenty minutes she pronounced herself done and she fluffed the damp hair with her fingers.

"Perfect, you like this I know. Very easy to take care of, no work. Very pretty." She allowed Ashara to get up and led her to a small mirror on the wall so the woman could see her new style.

When Ashara looked she was very surprised at what she found, the new style that Dr. Kwan had given her was very flattering, it framed her face and actually, somehow, managed to soften the hard angles of her bones. If the picture wasn't ruined by the scar tissue at her throat she would almost consider herself as pretty. "I like this very much. Thank you Dr. Kwan." She still got a little thrill when she heard her voice. What little she'd said in her time on the run had been raspy and rough because of the damage done. Now her voice was practically the same as before the damage and it sounded like music to her own ears.

The Korean woman beamed at the compliment and patted the taller woman on her arm. "See? I tell you it look good. You get good conditioner for that now and use it. Make your hair beautiful."

Jennifer grinned from over Ashara's shoulder and fluffed the hair with her fingers like the botanist had earlier, "I'll make sure she gets a good product and takes care of it. Now don't you feel better Ashara? You look stunning."

"Now I would not say stunning but…better."

Dr. Kwan planted her fists on her hips and looked at the tall woman with a scowl, "You stop that. You're very pretty. I just make you look even prettier. Now you go let Dr. Keller find you a nice man. You tell me which one you pick for her," she said to Jennifer as she leaned around Ashara's side to look at the doctor.

Keller laughed and thanked the botanist for her time before they turned and left the lab. When they were down the hall away she turned to Ashara, "So? Do you feel better now?"

Ashara couldn't help but nod, "Yes I do, thank you very much Jennifer."

The doctor laughed and nodded back, "I knew it. One thing that will always make a woman feel better is a decent haircut. You know I was just kidding about trying to set you up with a guy right?" She glanced over at the other woman who nodded but looked confused. "Dr. Kwan is always trying to put people together in couples. She said it's because her grandmother was a matchmaker back in Korea so she thinks she needs to do it too. Don't take it seriously, please. I would never interfere in anyone's personal life."

Ashara was still confused by the actions of her friend but she shrugged and replied, "Perhaps one day I will understand your Earth customs. But I thank you for your attention." A thought occurred to her and she asked, "What of you Jennifer? Is there a man in your life?"

Keller stopped in her tracks and blushed furiously at the question, "Um…I…oh wow, you're really blunt aren't you?" The doctor swallowed several times and laughed nervously before resuming her path along the quiet hallway. "Uh, well… there was this guy who seemed to be interested in me for a while but nothing ever came of it. Kind of a shame because I would have loved to…oh, well, you know."

"I understand," Ashara said wistfully. It really had been a long time since she'd been with a man. "And now?"

"Hmm? Oh, now? Well, I kind of have my eye on someone. He uh… well he's not what I thought he would be. Like he has a totally different side from what he shows everyone else." Jennifer glanced over at her friend and found the other woman smiling happily at her response, "I spent some time with him a while ago and we talked a lot. I really think I like him."

"And is he handsome?"

Jennifer laughed again and waved her hand dismissively, "He's not Brad Pitt if that's what you're asking but he's very sweet. I love the way he can make me laugh. And I think he genuinely cares about people even though he doesn't show it much."

Ashara wondered just what kind of man would attract her friend but couldn't readily come up with an answer, "Well he sounds like a fine man. I wish you luck if you decide to pursue a relationship with him."

"Thanks. So, what kind of man do you like?"

"One who is not a Wraith to begin with," they both laughed at the joke. Ashara had been trying to make light of her former situation so that she could alleviate the nightmares that plagued her. It was helping a little but the dreams still came. "Truly, I don't know. The men I've spent time with are all unique so there isn't one thing that defines my taste. I do like a man that can laugh with me. Oh, a man willing to hunt with me would be nice but if he's not wiling to go with then he must appreciate my passion for it. Perhaps a man that is unaware of the fact that I am not much of a catch would be good."

"How can you say that? Boy I'd give a lot to look like you do. You know back on my planet you'd be prized for how pretty you are. Probably end up a super model or something."

"You're teasing me aren't you? I am tall and gangly and this," she said pointing at her throat, "Certainly does not help any."

Jennifer looked Ashara up and down, "That's just cosmetic, what men from my world look at is the fact that you are tall, yes, but most of it is legs. They like really long legs for some reason. My legs however, are pretty short, so if you'd like to loan me some height I'll happily take it. As for the rest of your appearance, you're very fit, active and all that, and your face is very pretty. And I'd kill for those cheek bones of yours!"

Ashara chuckled at the doctor's words, "If you say so. I think I would find your planet very strange compared to my own."

"You and me both!"


	10. Part II Ch 3

"Oh this is too much for just me Halling, surely there is something more appropriate?" Ashara was surveying the huge tent that the Athosian man had shown her too and proclaimed that it was hers.

"Nonsense! You are a valued guest, soon to be a valued member of our community, this is the very least we can do to show our appreciation." Halling was beaming at her as his son Jinto danced around the big tent. "Now I know you do not have much but we will provide you with bedding and whatever you need."

Ashara beamed at the man and clasped his big hand in hers, "I cannot thank you enough Halling. I am grateful that Teyla suggested I come here."

"We are not suffering from it you know. Most of our hunters were taken when the Wraith Michael took us. Your willingness to help us is a gift. Now, I will take my wild son here and allow you time to rest." He grabbed Jinto's shoulder as the boy danced past and steered him towards the entrance.

"Oh, father! I want to ask Ashara if I can go hunting with her. May I please?" Jinto's enthusiasm made both of the adults smile.

"If Ashara agrees to it and if you promise me that you will mind her and obey her I see no reason you cannot go. Would that be acceptable?"

The Khorai woman grinned at them, "Of course it is! I would love to have Jinto come with me. You will have to wake very early though, can you be up before the sun?"

The boy nodded happily and then raced out of the tent to tell his friends. "Thank you. He is quite excited about this." Halling was obviously a very patient father and he doted on his son.

"He is such a good boy. You are very lucky." She turned away from the man so that he wouldn't see the sad look on her face. "He reminds me of my brother's son."

Halling could hear the tremor in her voice and he stepped across the tent to place his hands carefully on her shoulders, "I am very sorry for your losses. I hope that you will find new happiness here with us."

She nodded sadly and had a thought sparked from his words. "Halling, would it be all right with you if I brought some of my own things here? I think that I can find something left on my home world if I go look."

Halling's face broke into a wide smile, "Of course! That is an excellent idea. I will ask some of our people if they would like to accompany you to help."

XxXxXxXxXx

_One month later:_

Ashara trudged up the short hill taking the weight of the pole on her shoulder as well as the weight of the carcass they were carrying. Kanaan had volunteered to carry the back but she had no problem with it, she'd been carrying carcasses home with her brother for most of her life. Jinto walked beside them carrying three bows and three quivers of arrows as well as his own small pack. He was beaming with pride and Ashara reached over to ruffle his hair. "Go on, he'll be delighted to hear your news."

She watched as the boy ran off up the hill calling out to his father as he topped the rise and came into sight of the village. "Were you ever that excited Ash?" Kanaan called back over his shoulder.

"At my first big kill? No, I was much more excited than that. I don't think I sat still for a week after it and everyone in my village could tell the story word for word with me I'd repeated it so much." She smiled as she adjusted the pole to a more comfortable spot and pushed the carcass up the hill. "You promise not to tell him that it probably was not his arrow that brought the beast down?"

"Of course not. Why would I dispel his pride like that?" Kanaan laughed and turned to pull the poles. The creature they'd downed was a large bovine animal, bigger than the pigs they'd seen in the market but not quite a cow. It looked rather fatty but if it's speed was any indication there was more muscle to the creature than the outside of it told. Ashara simply wanted the hide because it was large enough that once she tanned it the result would fetch a nice price at a market.

Once they crested the hill they found several of the other men waiting to take their load from them, Jinto's arrival had obviously alerted them to the hunting party's presence. Ashara handed her end of the burden to one of them and hefted her pack as she followed them the short distance to the main part of the village. "Teyla is here," Toman said to Kanaan with a nudge to the ribs. Kanaan grinned back at the others and jogged off to see her.

When they entered the main circle of the village Ashara smiled and waved as she spotted Teyla who was cradling Torren in her arms and greeting Kanaan with a kiss. Many of the villagers were circled around their leader, asking her how the city was and telling her tidbits of gossip. Ashara didn't have much to say to the woman, they were friends but any gossip Teyla needed would better come from the true Athosians. So instead of joining the crowd she walked towards her tent, which sat on the outside of the village, near the tree line.

She was almost to it when Ronon stepped out from behind the tent and nodded at her. "Still not a part of the crowd?"

She looked over her shoulder at the laughing people and shook her head, "Never have been. You look well."

"Hmmm. Looks like I missed out on the hunt."

She smiled at him and motioned for him to come into her tent. When he started to follow she ducked inside and dropped her pack on the ground near a chest that held some of her belongings. She'd found a lot of her people's things, right where they'd been dropped when the Wraith came, and she'd hauled a lot of it back to the village over several trips. Much of it had been sold at the various markets to help purchase needed items for the village. She'd also found her entire hunting wardrobe and many of her people's weapons, which had been added to the caches around the village.

"Nothing to stop us from going on another one," she said as she stepped behind a screen and started stripping off her clothes. "Have any place in mind or is it just time to blow off steam?"

"Just looking for some fun. Sheppard's back on Earth and Teyla's going to be with Kanaan and Torren, so I figured I'd come along and see if I could convince you to go have some fun with me."

She laughed as she slipped a loose light gown over her head and walked back into the main part of her living area, "You should know by now it doesn't take much to convince me. Very well, a hunt we shall have." She picked her pack up off the floor and started pulling out the clothes that needed to be washed. "Ew, these stink. And so do I. I need a bath quite badly. Would you excuse me?"

Ronon nodded at her and held the tent open so she could exit it. "I'll go see what kind of trouble I can get into with Toman and the others. See you at dinner?"

Ashara nodded and wandered off to the stream that led to a waterfall where she liked to bathe. She took her time washing herself, using some of the shampoo and conditioner that she'd gotten from Atlantis and treating herself to a wash with a fragrant berry that grew locally. When she was done she got as much of the water out of her hair as she could and put the gown back on, then returned to the village. The night was warm and she was thankful she'd chosen the gauzy gown instead of something heavier. It would probably be hot in her tent tonight and she reminded herself to leave the curtains open tonight.

When she got back to the village she found most of the group chattering and laughing around the big open fire in the center of the village. The beast they'd killed had already been skinned and was spitted over the fire, smoking and sending delicious smells throughout the circle. Geah and Vasti beckoned her over to where several of the women were peeling vegetables and preparing several dishes for dinner. "This looks like it's become a feast," Ashara said as she hunkered down beside them.

"Halling thought it would be nice to celebrate Jinto's achievement," Geah replied. She had taken custody of Vasti a while ago, everyone deciding that the girl would be better off with a true mother to love her.

"Well then, I suppose I should get to work." Ashara grinned as she reached for a pile of the vegetables to peel.

XxXxXxXx

Late that night, when most of the Athosians had gone to bed to sleep off the overindulgence of food, Ashara sat on a log by the fire, watching the flames dance and listening to some of the men talking. Ronon sat next to her, more off the log than on it, he'd had several mugs of ruus wine and Ashara could tell that he was more than a little tipsy. He was regaling the men with tales of his time on the run from the Wraith and Ashara wondered if any of it was true. She'd hunted with the man in the past and he seemed more than capable of not only surviving in the wilds of the galaxy but also of taking on multiple Wraith and walking away from it. But this tale had him wounded, exhausted and trapped in a building with twenty or more Wraith closing in on him.

"Well gentlemen, I will leave you to your wine and stories," she said as she stood up and stretched. She nodded at them and clapped a few on the shoulders as she passed on her way to her tent.

"Ash, wait up," Ronon's gruff voice came from behind her as he jogged after her. "We didn't ever talk about hunting."

She yawned and nodded her head, "Well, then walk me to my tent and we will."

They talked about places to go and what game would be challenging as they crossed the distance to her tent, "Whatever you decide is best," Ronon said as they stopped in front of her living space. She nodded and shrugged. "Well, I guess this is good night."

"I'll see you in the morning," she said reaching for the tent flap.

"Hey Ash," his voice was low and careful. "Do you ever have the dreams?"

She looked up at his face and tried to decipher his words but the light was dim and his face was a mass of shadows, "The nightmares?" she whispered. Suddenly cold she shivered and crossed her arms against her chest. "Yes, all the time."

He nodded slowly and pulled her into a hug that was more comfort, for both of them, than anything else. He could feel her shaking against his chest and wondered if it was from the cool night air or from something else. No one else in the galaxy had experienced the same things they had and he found solace in being able to talk to her about his past. Deep down he thought she might find some measure of peace talking to him too even though she'd spoken very little of her time as a runner. He felt it more now, tonight, than usual. Maybe it was the drink; maybe it was being around people that were happy and secure. Whatever the trigger, he needed some reassurance that the bad times were over and he could hold his head up with the knowledge that he'd survived.

They stood there for a long time, finding comfort in the fact that they were both safe from the demons that had hunted them. Finally Ashara stepped back from his embrace and looked up at him, "Come in and let's talk."

He followed her into the tent and took in the decorations she had scattered about the space. She'd retrieved a lot of Khorai decorations and weapons and there were a great many of them here. He fingered the blade on several knives that lay on a low table and tried to avoid looking directly at her so that she wouldn't see the fear in his eyes. His nightmares had been getting worse for the past few weeks. Word had reached the city that Tyre had been spotted in several of their old haunts and the betrayal of his people by Tyre and the others built to a head as his anger grew.

"Sit," Ashara said indicating the bed. "Tell me what troubles you."

Ronon sat heavily, putting his head in his hands and thinking of how to get the words to come out. Eventually he sighed and said, "Someone I trusted, someone I would give my life for. He turned. He's a Wraith worshipper." He spoke carefully for a long time, pouring his heart out to her as much as he was able and she listened. That was all he needed from her, someone to listen and understand. Long into the night he lay back on the bed, getting comfortable as he went on. He hadn't looked at her in a long time, he couldn't or he would lose what little control of his emotions he held.

After a long while he stopped talking and just stared up at the top of the tent. Ashara watched him and said nothing like she had been since he started talking. She knew how hard it was for him to talk, not just to her, but to anyone. After being abused by the Wraith and then released into the unknown as sport for the demons, it was hard to do anything but survive. You didn't have time for emotions other than hatred and fear if you wanted to continue living. She thought about how different their lives had been and then how similar they were for a while before she looked over and found him asleep. Smiling at his strong form on her covers she got up, turned out the lantern and curled up next to him on the bed.


	11. Part II Ch 4

Ronon woke early the next morning with a twinge of pain in his head. He kept forgetting how much of a kick the Athosian ruus wine had. He lay still for a moment willing the ache to go away when he realized that someone was lying on his chest. He froze his body and tried to determine first where he was and then who he was with. He certainly didn't remember anything past the fire and swapping stories with some of the men. He inched his chin down and tried to figure out the identity of the person beside him. It was obviously female, her leg was twined with his and a small hand rested on his chest beside her head. He blinked in the dim early morning light and focused his vision to find that the woman happened to be Ashara.

Panic engulfed him and he desperately wracked his brain to try to remember what had happened the night before. He couldn't think of anything that would give him a clue how he had ended up in her bed or if they had been intimate. When he realized that he was still fully clothed his panic abated slightly, but that didn't mean much, he could have dressed after being with her and then never left. She shifted a little in her sleep, hunkering down tighter in the crook of his arm. When she stopped moving he decided that he would leave and go somewhere else to let her sleep while he tried to remember last night.

It took him several minutes to extricate himself from her, having to replace his body with some pillows and then covering her with a blanket and tiptoeing out of the tent. He took a deep breath once he was outside in the cool morning air and he shook his head trying to clear the blur that represented the previous night. He paced around the fire circle trying to jar loose some memory of what had occurred but nothing presented itself to him as the answer.

"You look troubled," Teyla's voice said from behind him making him jump a little. She smiled up at the big Satedan man as he continued pacing. "Something wrong?"

"No! Um…no, nothing's wrong." He gave her a lopsided grin and tried to calm his nerves. "How is Torren this morning?"

Teyla hefted her son higher on her hip and patted his head, "He is getting so big. Kanaan says that he is beginning to try to walk." She walked to where the fire had been the night before and sat on one of the logs arranging the boy on her lap. "You are avoiding my question. Is something wrong?"

Ronon frowned and kicked at the dirt sending some pebbles scattering, "No. I don't think so. I really can't remember."

Teyla laughed at her friend, "Too much wine then?"

Realizing that she had just given him and excuse for his behavior he tried to look sheepish and settled himself on a log near her, "You got me." Her gaze settled into the knowing leader look that he knew so well and he made his face go blank before he gave his secret away.

"Well, then are you and Ashara going hunting today?"

He nodded and poked at the ashes in the fire pit with a stick. "She said she knows of a place that she hasn't been for a long time. Supposed to be good hunting. Maybe I'll get a nice trophy for Torren."

Teyla rolled her eyes at him and kissed her son on the top of his head. Torren giggled and jammed a fist into his mouth as they sat, enjoying the quiet. Before long the village began to stir and people came out of their tents, starting fires for cooking and readying themselves for the day. Ronon had gone to help with the firewood when Ashara wandered out of her tent slinging her bow and arrows across her back with the leather sack she used on hunting trips. She searched the compound for Ronon and caught his eye before grabbing some food and stuffing it in her bag.

When he joined her she smiled up at him and nodded her head towards the gate, "You ready?"

Apparently she wasn't going to say anything to him about last night in front of anyone so he nodded and went to get his own pack and weapons.


	12. Part II Ch 5

_Three months later:_

Ashara peered down through the glass at the room below her. What she saw made her feel a lot of things. Anger, for the treatment he'd received. Hatred, for the Wraith and their cruelty. Pain, because she knew what he was going through. And most of all, sorrow. She watched as Ronon writhed and bucked on the table in the bare room below. He'd been strapped to the bed for nearly eight hours now and the effects of the Wraith's feeding on him were barely beginning to leave his body. He fought the effects with all of the anger he'd accumulated over the years and the bed shook and wobbled as he thrashed.

"How long?" Ashara asked as she watched.

"I don't know. Maybe a day, maybe more. There's so much of the enzyme in his body he can't even begin to process it yet. Once he's burned most of it off, I can't say for certain. " Jennifer looked down too, touching the computer tablet in her hand to read something on it. "He's strong though, if anyone can come through this it's him."

Ashara said nothing, just watched with sadness etched on her face. Keller knew that the Khorai woman was reliving the pain she'd been through as she watched Ronon's struggles. Not wanting to intrude in the former runner's thoughts, she patted Ashara on the shoulder and quietly left the room.

Ashara stood in the observation room all night watching him. She winced in pain as he fought against the thick straps that held him down and she reached out for him as he screamed in pain. She hated what the Wraith had done to him and felt a desperate need to hunt them down and kill every last one of them. But that wouldn't help him now. Only people that cared about him could keep him from giving up. And the people of the city were not going to let him succumb to the agony he was going through.

Sheppard had come into the room sometime in the night and stood quietly beside her, never saying a word. Eventually he left and she was alone again with her thoughts. She had remembered much of her time in the Wraith's clutches, none of it good and all of it painful. She fought with her own emotions as Ronon fought against the enzyme in the room below her.

Over the past few months they had become close friends. No one they knew of had had to survive the way they did and it eased the way between them. Ronon had shared a lot of his experiences with her, he said that talking to someone about it helped to keep the nightmares at bay. A lot of it she had gotten in the form of stories that he seemed proud of, the way he'd killed this Wraith, the way he'd trapped that one. Some of it had been whispered in the night, as they lay on her bed, safe in each other's presence like they hadn't been while they ran. Sometimes they fell asleep in the bed, waking in each other's arms, reveling in the dreamless sleep that came with the comfort. She hadn't ever told him anything of her time spent in the Wraith's clutches. She had long ago locked that away in the deepest part of her, hoping never to have to consider thinking of it again. Of course she told him about her time as a runner, but never before.

When Teyla and Sheppard has started to question their time together they had both denied anything romantic between them but Ashara had seen the look in his eyes some mornings when he woke beside her. She was beginning to feel the same way but she wouldn't chance loosing his friendship if she was mistaken about his intent. Chiding herself for being silly she continued on as if there were nothing but a deep friendship between them and it seemed to work for a while, until his eyes met hers again and that spark jolted her again into believing that by some slim chance he could find her attractive.

She snapped back to reality as the door to the room below slid open and Jennifer stepped inside the room. She carefully made her way to the bed where Ronon now lay quiet, pale and broken looking. He made no move towards her so she checked the straps and injected him with something that would no doubt make him feel better. The needle piercing his flesh made his eyes snap open and Jennifer jumped a little before he turned his gaze towards her. The pain on his face made Ashara's heart ache and she desperately wanted to do something, anything to help Ronon feel better. But that was Jennifer's job.

Keller mopped at Ronon's sweating brow and talked softly to him as she checked his vital signs and tried to reassure him. He was through the worst parts of the withdrawal but there was still more to come, just not as painful. She tried to explain to him what was happening but he wouldn't listen as he shut everything out and lay like the dead on the table. Eventually she left and he was alone again. He opened his eyes slowly and looked around the room. Finding no one, he let his defenses down and the tears poured from his eyes as he sobbed in pain.

When the door opened again it was Sheppard that stood there, his face carefully blank as he waited for Ronon to compose himself as best he could. When the man on the table looked over at him, only then did he come the rest of the way into the room. Sheppard did all the talking and Ronon listened, however uncaringly, as he fought against the enzyme in his system. Sweat poured off his body as Sheppard told him about how Tyre had sacrificed himself so that they would escape.

"Yeah, well he was a traitor." Ronon spat the words out at his commander and Sheppard looked critically at him, wondering if it was the brainwashing talking or some left over feeling from before.

"No, he was a good friend. We _all_ are. You're gonna realize that pretty soon," Sheppard said as he turned his back on Ronon and left the room as the Satedan screamed after him.

Ashara kept staring down at Ronon as he thrashed and succumbed to more convulsions brought on by his withdrawal. It was getting harder and harder to watch it and not explode into a rage that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to come out of. What had been done to Ronon was worse than her own treatment could ever have been.

The door to the upper observation room hissed open behind her and Sheppard walked in to stand beside her. He watched his friend and comrade below in the throes of the drugs and he gripped the railing in front of him with white knuckles. "He's stronger than I gave him credit for. He'll make it through this."

Ashara couldn't tell if his words were to comfort her or for himself. "It's getting worse."

Sheppard nodded and glanced over at her, "Yes it is, and Keller says it'll be even worse than this before it's over. You've been here for a long time. Why don't you go lay down for a while? I'll watch him."

She stared back at him and suddenly felt the exhaustion he obviously saw. She hadn't slept in several days. She'd been returning from a hunt when Kanaan came through the gate to tell her about Ronon. She hadn't even known that he'd been taken because she had been off world for close to a week. The last planet she'd been on had very little natural shelter and she was going to sleep out in the open when a violent storm rolled through and denied her that option. She had been too far from the gate to get to it before the storm broke so she rode it out and told herself that she'd sleep when she got back to New Athos. But Kanaan's arrival had stopped that from happening and she certainly wasn't going to sleep while Ronon was like this.

Sheppard made a shooing motion with his hands at her, "Go on. I'll notify you if anything changes."


	13. Part II Ch 6

When she returned to the observation room she found Rodney at the window, watching as Jennifer sat on a stool mopping at Ronon's brow again and talking softly to him. "How is he?"

"Better, Jennifer says that most of it is out of his system but he's still going through withdrawal." Rodney smiled at her and continued to watch the scene below. "He should just be wiped out from exhaustion at this point."

Ashara nodded, not really sure if what he was saying was correct or not. She saw Jennifer glance up as her movement caught her attention and she gave Ashara and Rodney a little wave. Ronon's face was pale and there were dark circles around his eyes as if he'd been hit. They could see a sheen of sweat on his face as the watched and Ashara saw his muscles twitching and jerking continuously. After a while Keller looked up again and pointed at Rodney before motioning him to come down to the holding room. He left the room and soon Ashara could see him at the door of the room below. Jennifer got up from the stool and walked to the door where she spoke softly to him for a few moments before leaving the room. Ashara noticed that as she left she reached for Rodney's hand and laced her fingers with his for a moment. Perhaps this was the man that Jennifer found so attractive. Filing that away in her mind she returned her stare to the bed and watched as Ronon's body tried desperately to rid itself of the poison.

After a long time of watching Rodney sit with Ronon and ramble on about whatever it was he was telling him, she got impatient and went down to the room below. As the door slid open Rodney paid it no attention, lost in whatever tale he was relating to the man on the bed. "Rodney? May I sit with him for a while?"

The scientist blinked at her, finally realizing she was there and he nodded, "Of course, please."

Ashara waited until he was gone and the room was quiet again except for Ronon's labored breathing. She moved the stool down the bed so that she could look up his body at him and hold his hand that was still restrained. When she took his hand the heat from it surprised her, he was burning up with fever. For a long time she just held his hand, watching him but eventually she started to talk. Once she started it all came out, the horror of watching her friends and family be taken one by one by the Wraith until only she was left. All of the torture and pain that came after it. The blinding rage that overwhelmed her as they played with her. Everything she had never told anyone about came pouring out of her until she sat with tears streaming down her cheeks as she spoke.

When she finished she closed her eyes and let the grief control her for a while. She sat and let the pain wash over her body and leave her mind. When Ronon's hand closed on her own she suddenly realized that he had been listening to the whole thing and now as he looked at her with a mix of sympathy and sorrow in his eyes. The tears that stained his cheeks now weren't from the drug or the fever but from his emotions. What made her heart ache the most was the obvious disgust that was clear in his gaze. Before he could say anything to her, the door hissed open again and Sheppard walked in.

"Hey buddy," he called across the room as his face lit up at Ronon's apparent recovery. "You feeling better?"

"I feel like shit."

Sheppard chuckled and nodded, "I bet you do. Lemme get Dr. Keller in here." He tapped the radio earpiece in his ear to activate his radio and asked the doctor if she would come to the room before he came over to the bed and started undoing the restraints that held Ronon down. "I don't think we need this anymore do you?"

Ronon didn't answer as Sheppard removed the thick leather strap on his wrist because his eyes were on Ashara who had quietly risen from the stool and was now walking out of the room.

XxXxXxXx

_Three Weeks Later:_

The soft breeze made tiny waves on the lake in front of her and Ashara sighed and leaned back on the sand of the small beach and let the sun warm her skin. She had found this little area one afternoon as she wandered around the lake hunting and thought it might be a good place to enjoy some solitude away from the bustle of the Athosian village. Now more than ever she needed that solitude even though it never brought any peace with it. The only other place she could think of going would be back to her home village and that would steal away what little control over her emotions she currently held.

She hadn't been able to sleep a full night since she'd poured out her heart to Ronon at his sick bed and the violent flashes that burned through her subconscious hinted at stealing her sanity completely. She'd woken screaming from the nightmares so often that the rest of the Athosians had started to worry about her. So she'd started going off world as often as she could to avoid them. She started feeling like she was back running from the Wraith and the exhaustion of it all was starting to show on her.

Halling had practically force-fed her the other day because she'd lost so much weight. And Kanaan had threatened to tie her up and carry her to the city for help even though she'd sworn that there was nothing wrong with her. She wouldn't let anyone see how deeply the unlocked part of her memory was hurting her. So she stayed away. She had hoped for a time that Ronon would come to her, to talk, to listen, just to be someone that understood but he hadn't. He'd shunned her and the taint she carried and now she knew she was truly alone.


	14. Part II Ch 7

Teyla hurried down the hallway to her quarters with a wide grin on her face. Kanaan had come to visit and she was very eager to see both him and Torren. When she opened the door to her room she stopped short because Kanaan was sitting on the edge of the bed talking to Sheppard. The Colonel turned and waved at Teyla as Kanaan gestured that he needed another moment with the other man. "Please Teyla, I need to discuss something with the Colonel. It will only take a second."

"Of course," she said as she backed out of the room. It worried her that whatever Kanaan had to say couldn't be said in front of her. She wandered slowly down the hall and sat on one of the benches in the junction to wait. Wondering what could possibly be troubling Kanaan so much, she fretted until the door slid back open and John walked out, pausing at the door to clasp hands with Kanaan and reassure him that he would do his best.

"He's all yours now Teyla, sorry to take up your alone time," Sheppard joked as he walked past her into the city.

She stared after him until he rounded the corner and then went back into her room. Kanaan now greeted her with a grin and wrapped her in his arms. "I am sorry about that. I had something I needed to discuss with the Colonel." He looked down at the frown on her face and said, "It is something private, for a friend."

"I thought we were not going to keep secrets from one another." Teyla said as she lay her head against his chest.

"I am not keeping a secret from you. I am just trying to help someone and I cannot do it, so I have asked Colonel Sheppard to look into the matter." Kanaan kissed her on the top of her head. "Just let it be Teyla. Oh, how I have missed you."

XxXxXxXx

John Sheppard pondered what Kanaan had said earlier as he walked through the hallways of the city. The absurdity of the situation amused him even though it wasn't a laughing matter. Just knowing the people it was affecting made his shoulders ache so he'd better put his business mask on and go find Ronon.

When he finally did find his friend, staring out over the pier from one of the balconies on the tower, he didn't hesitate to present the matter at hand. "Ronon, I just got done talking to Kanaan and I think you might want to hear what he said."

The taller man looked at his commander and waited for him to proceed. "Well, it seems like something that got said or happened between you and Ashara a while back shook her up pretty badly. She's been having a rough time of it and Kanaan and Halling are getting pretty worried about her. Any idea what might have set her off?"

Ronon scowled at Sheppard and tugged at his beard, "What do you mean having a rough time?" He was saddened by her avoidance of him since his capture by the Wraith and the sorrow of it was starting to wear on him. He didn't think that she, of all people, would turn her back on him after the incident but she had. She'd left the medical bay and never looked back. Perhaps she couldn't face him now that he'd been under the Wraith's influence, knowing that he'd violated every ounce of trust he'd once held with her. Whatever the factor that tipped the scales against him, he regretted it with an ache in his heart he hadn't felt since Sateda.

"Well, he said she's been keeping to herself a lot, you know, going off hunting for days at a time. Oh and she isn't eating, lost a lot of weight."

The taller man turned his back on Sheppard and leaned heavily against the railing as he pondered what Sheppard had told him. It wasn't like Ashara to be distant from people. She had lots of friends among the Athosians as well as here in the city. As for not eating, well that could be any number of problems but he couldn't pinpoint any of them. "I don't know Sheppard. I mean I haven't seen her in about a month. It could be anything." He stopped for a second and looked over his shoulder, "Why are you asking me this?"

"Well, you seem to have some sort of a connection with her, I guess the whole runner thing puts you two on the same page." Sheppard paused and studied the other man's face looking for some indication that Ronon knew an answer to this problem. "Look, I don't know what is or isn't going on between you two, but someone needs to get her some help. She's left New Athos and hasn't been back in nearly a week so someone needs to track her down. You're the go to tracker guy here so I'd really appreciate it if you'd find her. Please."

Ronon looked over his shoulder at the word "please" and saw the pleading look in Sheppard's eyes. So he nodded and turned on his heal to go get his gear. Ashara may be angry at him, but that didn't mean he couldn't still help her. And maybe, if he explained himself enough, she'd be his friend once more, even knowing what he had become for a time.


	15. Part II Ch 8

The blue shimmer of the stargate whooshed off behind Ronon as he knelt down to study the tracks around the stone pedestal the gate sat on. Multiple footprints trailed off in several directions but none of them caught his attention. This was the seventh planet he'd visited today in his search for Ashara and he was starting to get aggravated.

He had been beating himself up over the way she'd treated him for nearly a month now and Sheppard's tasking him with finding the woman hurt just that much more. He'd seen the look in her eyes when he came back to reality in the medical bay, the pain and utter loathing that was etched on her face made his stomach churn even now. Her reaction shouldn't have surprised him; he'd probably feel that way about someone that he had trusted that had let them self be turned by the Wraith too. He could still feel the hand pressed against his chest, sucking the essence of his life out of him, then shoving it back in, over and over until he was delirious with the effects of it. The reason he'd stopped fighting it was still cloudy in his memory but Dr. Keller had tried to explain it all to him. He shouldn't have stopped though, he should have been able to fight it, he was stronger than that and there as no excuse for his weakness. And now, the one person in the galaxy that could even remotely understand his pain as well as the overwhelming sense of utter emptiness that came from losing everyone you loved, was the one person in the galaxy that he was ashamed to face because of his weakness.

Growling in frustration he kicked at the dirt at his feet and stormed to the DHD to dial the next planet.

XxXxXxXx

She let herself drift along with the warm breeze, trying not to allow her mind to turn back to the horrible images that flashed behind her eyes. Now they came all the time, not just in her dreams, the fear, the pain, the shame of it all crashed around her like a storm. If only there was some way to excise the horror from her brain she might be able to go on, but as it stood she could feel herself slipping into the nightmare and she knew she wasn't going to be able to come back from it this time.

Once she'd let it all come back to her as she spoke to Ronon, there was no way to reseal the dam she'd held the terror behind. She'd never heard stories from anyone else that had survived a lengthy captivity by the Wraith and now she knew why, no one would remain sane enough to be left alive. What they had done to her was beyond reason. It hadn't been horrible at first; they shoved her about, taunting her, shearing off her hair to shame her, threatening to feed on her. Then the cutting had began, little slashes that stung more than anything, then more and more until she was covered in her own blood. By the time they'd decided to rape her she'd been numb to the pain, so they had revived her by infusing her with stolen life force. The wounds had healed and the clarity of what they were doing to her crashed down into her mind and threatened to break her sanity forever so she'd retreated into the darkest corner of her mind, hiding from the horror and willing herself to die. But she'd survived and they'd continued to try their hardest to break her will as well as her body. She hadn't even realized that they'd slit her throat until she found herself kneeling in a growing pool of her own blood gasping for breath and reeling from the pain. They had healed her just enough to stop the bleeding before they shoved dirty clothes at her and dropped her on a desolate planet to begin her life as a runner.

Now the memories that she'd locked away were all that she could feel, the pain, the violation, the utter terror of it all flooded her mind and forced her to feel each touch and each cut as if it were happening all over again. She wanted to scream until she was hoarse but she'd already done that and she couldn't find the energy to scream more. She was vaguely aware of shivering as she lay on the narrow beach and the dim thought that told her that wasn't right flitted through her mind before vanishing.

XxXxXxXx

When the gate shut down this time Ronon didn't hesitate, he jogged to the DHD and dialed Atlantis. After waiting for the gate to stabilize he tapped his radio and reported in to the technician where he was and that he'd found positive signs of Asahra's presence. He told the man on the other end of the transmission that he would report back in six hours if he didn't return to the city before then. After receiving a conformation of his plan he allowed the gate to disengage and he turned to where the one distinct set of footprints trailed away from the gate. This was the first planet he'd tried that hadn't also had a set of footprints returning to the gate so he hoped that his hunt was coming to an end. Now he just had to find her and figure out a way to face her.

XxXxXxXx

It was nearly an hour before he found her; she'd done a good job of making her presence scarce as a good runner would. He had actually missed her once as he circled the small lake, he would have missed her a second time if she hadn't shifted her position and the movement caught his eye. He circled around in front of her, making his presence very obvious in case she was armed and angry. As he approached her he held his hands out in front of him in the common gesture of surrender. When he got close enough to see her face he noticed that she was watching him with a look of anger as well as something else he couldn't quite identify.

"Ash, we need to talk," he rumbled softly, lowering his eyes to his feet.

Ashara glared at him and wondered just what she'd done to upset the higher powers in the galaxy to deserve this. Of all the people that could have come looking for her, it had to be the man that was the most revolted by her. "What could we possibly have to talk about?"

The tone of her voice was more a snarl than a reply and he winced at her anger. She was obviously disgusted with him and wanted nothing to do with him, a fact that burned him like acid as he tried to think of something that would make her understand. Sighing loudly he decided that the simple truth would be best, "I tried, really I did. You can't know how hard it is to fight them. I…" his voice hitched and he allowed his tall frame to sink to the ground in front of her. "I was weaker than I've ever been and there was nothing I could do. I wish you could understand."

Ashara gaped at him in disbelief, "What?"

Ronon still wasn't looking at her, his gaze was focused on his folded hands in his lap, "I fought for as long as I could, hours, days, who knows, but eventually…I was just so tired. So incredibly tired."

She blinked at him as he allowed the words to tumble from his lips and realized that he wasn't talking about what had happened to her. She tentatively leaned towards him and gently touched his hand with her own, when he didn't pull back from the contact she put her other hand under his chin and lifted his face up so she could look in his eyes. His eyes were filled with unshed tears and the pain that welled there made her heart ache. "You…you're not completely sickened by me?"

Now it was Ronon's turn to blink in confusion at her, "What? Why would you think that?"

Chewing her lower lip as she ran all of the words that had passed between them recently through her mind she cocked her head at him in curiosity, "I think we really do need to talk."

The stunned look on her face was possibly the most wonderful sight he'd seen in years, "We're not talking about the same thing are we?"

"I don't know. Have you been avoiding me because of what I told you about what happened to me?"

The confused look on his face amused her like nothing else had in the past month and she actually giggled a little. "Uh…what did you tell me?"

"About the Wraith and what they'd done to me." She waited to see if anything registered on his face but nothing other than the growing confusion did. "What are you talking about?"

"I thought you were upset at me because of being so weak. And why did you think I was avoiding you? I thought _you_ were avoiding _me_."

Ashara shook her head at him and settled herself cross-legged in the sand in front of him, "So you're not disgusted with me?" He shook his head back at her, the chunky beads in his hair rattling as they hit each other. "Wow, do you remember any of what I told you?"

"Uh…no?" He kept looking down at his hands for a while then he sheepishly looked up at her through the strands of hair that had fallen across his face, "I can remember waking up and you holding my hand. Then I saw the sad look on your face and I…well I guess I thought you were disappointed in me and how weak I'd been."

A slow smile crept across Ashara's face as she put all of the pieces of the puzzle she'd been missing together. "You aren't weak Ronon, you're never weak. You are the strongest person I've ever met." She shifted her legs under her on the sandy ground and faced him with a grin that lit the sunken parts of her face, "What you faced was impossible and you came through it, not many people could do that. There will never _ever_ be any shame in that."

Ronon let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and the smile that washed over his face warmed his soul. "So uh…maybe you should tell me what I forgot?"

Ashara lowered her gaze to the ground in front of her and the shame of it all came flooding back to her, "No. I really shouldn't." She chanced a quick glance up at him and then returned her gaze to her feet so the tears that threatened to roll down her face wouldn't show. She had narrowly avoided the shame that revealing her tainted past would bring down upon her and she didn't want to go back to it if she could help it.

Now it was Ronon's turn to reach across the space between them and touch her hand. He ran his fingers tenderly over hers and pulled her hand into his own, "No secrets between us. Okay?" He waited patiently until she nodded and then he squeezed her hand in reassurance, "Good, now I've got a few hours before I have to report in. Will you please tell me?"

"You're not going to like it."

"Ash, there's nothing you can tell me that will make me care less about you."

She studied his face for a minute and found no trace of falsehood there so she nodded and started to talk.


	16. Part III Ch 1

"No way!"

"Would I lie to you Sheppard?"

The lankier of the two men thought about that for a second and then shook his head, "Well no, but still, you gotta admit it's pretty crazy sounding."

The more muscular man to Sheppard's right laughed with a deep booming sound, "Yeah, it is pretty ridiculous."

They were quiet for a moment, each thinking their own thoughts. Sheppard shot a quick glance over at the man in the other seat and a broad grin spread across his face, "So what's going on with you and Ash?"

"What? Nothing," Ronon sputtered the words a little because the question had caught him off guard.

Sheppard grinned at his friend and smacked the Satedan on the arm, "You two are totally hookin' up aren't you?"

Ronon glared at the other man's playful question, "No. Nothing is going on with us, we're just friends. Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

Sheppard laughed and turned his attention back to the heads up display in front of him, "Sure buddy, what ever you say."

"You don't believe me?"

Sheppard's face went solemn and he held up his hands in surrender, "Oh I believe you." He waited until Ronon's glare toned down a level or two before he continued, "So you wouldn't mind if I asked her out?"

Ronon's face went though several different emotions before finally settling on angry but not quite ready to kill someone. "Whatever."

John couldn't help but laugh at his friend's reaction. The look of despair that had crossed the Satedan man's face as he realized that he had just opened the door for Sheppard to try to have his way with Ashara was comical to say the least and told the Colonel exactly what he needed to know about the purported lack of relationship between the two former runners. However, if Ronon really was saying there was nothing between them, John certainly wouldn't intrude on the matter.

So he brought the topic back to something they could both agree on. "So what do you think she sees in him?"

"Who, Rodney?"

John nodded and pushed a few buttons on the dashboard of the jumper. "Yeah, I mean Keller isn't as neurotic as he is, what could they possibly have to talk about?"

Ronon's previously serious demeanor melted as he thought about that and he swiveled his chair around to face his commander. "Maybe they talk about his hypochondria?"

Sheppard chuckled at the suggestion, "Well I'm sure that comes up quite a bit. Kinda makes you wonder what people find attractive in each other doesn't it?"

"Well, what'd you find attractive about your ex-wife?"

John raised an eyebrow at the other man, "Have you met her? What's not to like?"

Ronon nodded appreciatively. He'd met Sheppard's ex-wife at the Colonel's father's funeral and he had to agree, the woman was extremely beautiful. "So what happened to make that change?"

John leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, "Long story. Pretty boring actually."

"C'mon, we're not going anywhere," Ronon replied gesturing out the window of the jumper at the blackness of empty space in front of them. They weren't scheduled to meet up with Todd's ship for at least another three hours but Sheppard had wanted to scout the location before they went into it in case something unexpected was waiting for them.

In the past few weeks Michael and his hybrid creations had been cutting a swath of chaos across the galaxy hitting outposts for both the remaining Wraith hives and the human populations. He'd taken a large number of hostages, presumably to use in his experiments to perfect a new form of hybrid creature, and now both sides of the battle against him were attempting to stop him from doing more damage. Todd the Wraith had contacted Atlantis three days ago and suggested meeting to discuss possible tactics. Mr. Woolsey had considered the idea and decided that it might be beneficial to the city to at least hear what their sometime ally had to say. So Sheppard and Ronon were sitting in the middle of nowhere waiting for Todd's ship to arrive.

Sheppard looked at his watch and shrugged at his friend as he turned his own seat to the side, "Well I guess it was a pretty standard thing. I was called away on missions all the time so I was hardly ever home and Nancy didn't like that very much. So she started to pursue her own career and so when I was home she wasn't. Kinda hard to have a relationship with someone you never see. So we grew apart and finally decided a divorce was best."

Ronon nodded and shrugged back, "Sounds like you could have fixed it if you tried."

"Yeah maybe, but things aren't always that easy back on Earth. When I say I was on missions I mean I was on the other side of the planet a lot. You tend to be late for dinner when you're trapped in a war zone eight thousand miles from home." He caught Ronon's confused look and elaborated on what he meant, "Think of it like this. Say you were on New Athos on the north continent. Now your wife, who really wants you to be home for dinner all the time is on the south continent. Now add in the fact that you have no puddle jumper or other space craft that can just pop up into orbit and then back down so you don't have to take that long to get home. That's what I'm talking about."

"Huh, well I guess that would put a strain on it wouldn't it? So I take it Nancy didn't fight with you?"

"Oh we fought plenty, just not the way you're talking about. No, she worked for the government, more like Woolsey than say, Teyla. So I guess she did fight, just from behind a desk instead of in an actual battle."

Both men let the silence surround them for a while and then they both seemed to get antsy at the same time, "So, what about you? You said that you were as good as married back home. What happened there?" Sheppard grinned cautiously at the other man. Ronon didn't always like revealing things about himself, but he'd been pretty open since the Wraith capture incident.

Ronon smiled as he remembered the woman he'd once loved and then started talking about her. He told Sheppard about how he'd met her and their plans for the future and how they'd been destroyed by the Wraith siege that wiped out most of Sateda. He talked for a long time, laughing at happy memories and frowning at the sadder ones.

Eventually the two men sat in silence again and Sheppard turned back to the control panel to fiddle with knobs and switches. When he couldn't mess with the controls any more he turned his seat back towards the center of the ship. "Hey, are those new?" he asked pointing at Ronon's leather pants.

He nodded running his hands down his thighs along the soft black leather, "Mmm-hmm. Ash gave them to me. She found one of her uncles in a market a while back and got some really nice leather from him. I think she actually made them."

John leaned over in his seat and examined the pants, "Those are really nice. She does good work." He leaned back in his chair and smirked at the other man, "Must be nice to have a girlfriend that makes a great wardrobe for you huh?"

"She's not my girlfriend. I told you that already."

The look on Ronon's face said that he felt otherwise but John didn't push it, "Well, if she's not your girlfriend then she should be. I don't think you're going to find a much better match than her. I mean she's really pretty, got a great sense of humor; she's pretty badass so she could keep up with you. And she can certainly take care of herself. Don't think you could ask for much more." Sheppard stopped talking and looked thoughtful for a minute, "Does she have a sister?"


	17. Part III Ch 2

"Why does it have to be our people?" Sheppard demanded.

"Do you really think that any of mine would get anywhere?" Todd asked sarcastically. "They would be killed on sight. He does not want Wraith any way but dead."

Ronon nodded his head, "He's got a point you know?"

"Since when do you agree with him?" Sheppard started pacing the floor of the room they were meeting in, not getting too close to the membrane walls. "Well we can't send in any of our people either, he knows all of us."

Todd looked thoughtful for a moment and then shrugged and paced opposite Sheppard. He had told the Atlantis personnel that Michael had decimated two more Wraith outposts and then demanded that they combine forces to stop him once and for all. Todd's small hive was one of the few that remained largely untouched because they didn't settle in one place for very long so Michael couldn't fixate on them. "We need to find a way to get someone into his group so we can anticipate his moves. Too many times he has gotten the better of us because we were not expecting him to be where he was. If we could get someone loyal to us to act as a covert agent…"

"A mole, I like it!" Sheppard's face brightened as he mulled over the idea. "So we need to get someone that could say they were coming over to his side because of…oh I don't know why, we'll get to that later. But how could we get them to report back to us? I'm sure Michael would scan them pretty closely. I could send in a black ops agent from Earth but that'd take time to get someone out here and trained."

Todd threw out another thought, "Whoever goes would have to prove themselves loyal to Michael's plans. That could be somewhat…distasteful… to a human."

Sheppard's face fell and he stopped pacing, "That's gonna be the hard sell right there. I don't think you're going to find too many people around that would be willing to go against other humans. No, we need someone that's got no qualms about doing nasty stuff if that's what it takes. I'll look into getting one of our specialists out here. Any chance you could find someone hanging around one of your…where _do _you hang out?"

Todd scowled at Sheppard and curled his lip up a little, "Wraith do not 'hang out'. I do not believe that I will be able to find someone to do what is needed for this. I am sorry but it will be up to you. I will, however, provide what support I can." He turned his back on the men and Ronon made a gesture like he was going to hit Todd but Sheppard motioned for him to back off of the Wraith. Todd crossed his arms over his chest and turned back to them, "I do have another matter I wish to discuss with you."

"Of course you do," Sheppard said as he rolled his eyes, "What is it this time?"

XxXxXxXxXx

Later, when Sheppard and Ronon were once more alone in the darkness of space on their way back to Atlantis they had some time to discuss the things Todd had said. Sheppard had been going on, thinking out loud about what type of Special Forces operative would be good to put into Michael's operation. "They'd have to be up on all of the happenings of Pegasus, easy enough to fake but they need a good back-story."

"You know there's a much more simple solution to this don't you?"

Sheppard slid his gaze over to the Satedan's side of the ship and waited for elaboration. When none came he said, "Not sure what you're getting at. I mean, we need someone that can handle them self in a tight spot, loyal to us, willing to do something really nasty, probably someone with some wet works experience. You know it's not going to be easy to find someone like that. Michael knows most of the Atlantis personnel and the Athosians are out since he took them. No, I think we need Special Forces or someone like…"

"Someone like a former runner?" Ronon interjected.

"Nope, we know you're out, Michael knows you and he'd shoot on sight." It seemed to dawn on Sheppard what Ronon was alluding to after he thought about it for a second. "You're not talking about you are you?"

"She'd be perfect for it. She can definitely handle herself, she's good at being sneaky if that's what it takes and we know she's loyal. Plus, she's got a cover already and he doesn't know her."

Sheppard nodded slowly, "Yeah, but how would we get her in there?"

Ronon steepled his fingers, "Leave that to me."

"Fine but do you think she'd go for it?"

Now Ronon looked thoughtful and mildly sad, "I really don't know. After what she's been through it'd be really hard on her. But, she's our best bet."

XxXxXxXx

Ashara sat quietly on the edge of her bed staring at the ground like she had been doing for the past ten minutes. Ronon was beginning to think she wasn't ever going to speak to him again when she carefully nodded her head. "How will you get me in?'

He couldn't respond right then because he'd suddenly gotten a huge lump in his throat that he couldn't seem to swallow around. He had realized in her silence that he'd just asked her to do something that even he would have a hard time stomaching and that it was extremely dangerous as well. Maybe something really had happened between them for him to care this much about her safety.

Shaking his head to dispel the train of thought he had been on he turned his attention back to her question. "Todd can provide us with some Wraith to play the part of hunters. We can put you in Michael's path and you can appeal to him to get you away from the hunters."

Ashara nodded more and looked up at him, "Right, then I can work my way into his operation. I get it, but how do I inform you of his movements?"

"That's the hard part, sort of. McKay thinks he can right up a small tracker that can send out low frequency signals we can track. You'd just need to make sure it doesn't get found. You can also leave word for us at various spots if you have enough time." He studied her face for any sign that she would come to her senses and back out of this before something horrible happened.

She stood up and walked to the far end of the tent, chewing on her thumb as she thought about the plan. She knew all too well that this could push her completely over the edge into madness and possibly even get her killed, but Ronon was right and it was something that needed to be done to stop Michael's predations. The plan was solid and she was a logical choice to be the operative. "Let me think about this some more will you?"

Ronon walked across the tent to her side and put a hand on her shoulder, "You really don't have to do this you know. Sheppard can find someone from Earth to do it."

She cocked her head to hear his words because his voice was so soft, "No, I can do it."

"You're sure? I mean it's not going to be easy. And after all you've been through…" his words trailed off as he looked down at her.

When she tilted her gaze up to meet his eyes she could see a spark of regret in his look that said he really didn't want her to try this. Briefly she wondered what it was that had changed in their relationship that would make him act like this but then she dismissed it as one of her silly fantasies and smiled at him. "I'll be fine. After all, I've got you to back me up right?"

Ronon's face beamed with the smile he gave her, "Always."


	18. Part III Ch 3

Their plan came together rapidly after Ashara had agreed to be the spy. Todd met with them again and agreed to provide some of his people to play the hunters to chase her into Michael's path. Rodney and Zelenka worked day and night to come up with a way to tag her with a tracking device that wouldn't be detected and Ronon and Sheppard worked out a way to monitor her movements as well as a code to be used to pass messages through contact. Jennifer was very reluctant to have to put the Wraith tracker back into Ashara's back but after Rodney talked to her for a long time she agreed. Zelenka had been studying the device at length since they had brought it back to the city and he had found a way to turn it on without allowing it to send a signal. That would make it look legitimate to Michael once Ashara infiltrated his group and sell her story.

Ashara spent a long time with Halling and Teyla outside of the Athosian camp discussing her story and meditating to try to alleviate some of the fears that she had about the idea of being in Michael's clutches. Teyla also went with her to several of the marketplaces where Ashara had found relatives and friends of hers and enlisted several of them to act as contacts for her to pass messages to if the need arose. Several of the Athosians had volunteered to assist the monitoring process with the Atlantis personnel because the tracking device they would implant in her wasn't strong enough to emit a signal long range so they would have to follow her around in cloaked jumpers. The task would be tedious and taxing but the Athosians more than anyone had a reason to help in the entrapment of Michael after he had done the same to them.

Ronon went back and forth between the city and the Athosian camp going over the codes and locations with Ashara as well as lending support to her while she prepared herself for the task. They spent long nights talking about the plan and discussing methods to contact the other members of the team. Ashara enjoyed the time not only because she got to spend time with Ronon, but also because his presence eased her fears that this would all end in disaster. Something about his proximity made her feel safe and secure and she allowed herself to bask in that feeling while she could. He had asked her several times if she truly wanted to go through with this and she could tell that he wasn't at all happy about the possibility of sacrificing her to Michael.

After a long time preparing the plan was ready to be set into motion and Ashara visited the city for Jennifer to re-implant the tracking device. Once the tracker was in and the incision had started healing over she drug out her rattiest clothes from her time as a runner and said her farewells to her friends with many promises to be careful.

Jennifer hugged her tightly before she left the city and Ashara could see the fear in Jennifer's expression. "Don't worry, I'm a pro at this," she teased to allay some of the tension. Then she leaned over and whispered in Jennifer's ear, "Rodney's a good catch you know. You picked well."

Jennifer's eyes went wide and a deep red blush crept up her neck, "How did you…?"

"I'm very observant." She smiled at her friend and winked at her, "Besides, it's hard to miss."

She left Jennifer spluttering in the medical bay and made her way to the control tower where everyone else was waiting for her. Mr. Woolsey thanked her profusely for her commitment and promised her that the Atlantis team would be behind her every step of the way. Major Lorne nodded at her and Dr. Zelenka waved a hand held scanner at her before checking the readout and smiling. Rodney gave her a few last minute tips on the tracking device and she shook his hand before walking up the stairs to the jumper bay behind Colonel Sheppard.

The Colonel didn't say anything as they walked, he really didn't have to. They had been over the plan so many times it was rote now and Sheppard wasn't one for unnecessary words. He nodded at Ronon who was waiting next to the jumper for them and left them alone as he prepped the ship for take off.

"Last chance to back out," Ronon said softly as he put his hands on her arms and gave her a lopsided grin.

"No, I'm ready to do this," she looked up at him with a faint smile of her own. "I'll be fine as long as I know you are out there looking out for me."

Ronon chuckled and pulled her into a loose hug. "Count on it." Something came over him and he leaned over and kissed her on top of her head. "Come back to me. Please?"

His whispered words startled her as much as the heat from his lips on her head and she pulled back from him in surprise, "What?"

Ronon's face was soft and carefully expressionless as he looked down at her, "You heard me."

Ashara stared up at him for a long time before she nodded and bit her lip to keep herself from breaking down. Knowing that if she said anything she would lose control of her emotions so she stepped around him and walked into the jumper. She could hear him let out a deep breath as he turned to follow her and she sat in the back chair of the ship fumbling with the leather hood in her hand. Ronon walked past her and sat in the co-pilot's chair and they lifted off the floor and headed off to meet Todd.

No one said a thing as they flew towards the meeting. They all knew the plan inside and out and nothing was left to be said otherwise. At one point Ronon swiveled his chair to look at her but he said nothing. He just sat staring at her as if he were memorizing her face. The attention unnerved her slightly but she allowed him to do what he needed and she leaned forward to put a reassuring hand on his knee. "I'll be fine. Relax." Ronon's jaw clenched tightly and he nodded at her before turning back to the front of the ship.

When they reached the planet they had agreed to meet Todd on they found their Wraith ally already there with three of his lieutenants dressed as hunters. The two groups met near the DHD, halfway between each of their ships. "Todd," Sheppard said with a nod, his hand resting on the trigger guard of his P-90. "Okay, we've got it all worked out on our end. You sure Michael's where you think he is?"

"As sure as I can be these days." Todd eyed Ashara and curled his lip up at her a little, "Do you really think you can do this?"

Ashara shifted from foot to foot and looked up at the Wraith, "Do I have a choice? I don't think any of your people would be able to do it and Michael needs to be stopped. So yes, I think I can do this."

Todd laughed and slapped her on the shoulder, "Good, I think I like this one! Now, is the tracking device replaced?"

Sheppard nodded and stepped up to place himself between Ronon and Todd because Ronon was tensing up like he was about to attack the Wraith. "Yeah, Keller put it back in three days ago. It should be healed enough to pass a quick examination. So how are we going to work this?"

"We will give her a head start, then proceed to chase her towards Michael's compound. I assume you can act as if you are running for your life?" Todd asked as he cocked his head towards Ashara.

"I believe it is a habit by now. Is the compound close to the gate?"

Todd nodded, "It is not far. Once you are in the compound we will not follow you. It is frowned upon for one Wraith hive to intrude upon another's sport. After you are in, it is all up to you." He turned to the lieutenants and nodded at them before they fanned out towards the gate.

"You just make sure they don't actually hurt her," Ronon growled at Todd.

"Yes, yes, I know. Hurt her and you will kill me. You really must come up with new threats Ronon."

Ronon made a lunge towards the Wraith but Sheppard stopped him with a hand to the shoulder. The Satedan clenched his fists and growled at the Wraith party before turning to Ashara and motioning her to follow him back towards the jumper. When they were away from the others he leaned over her and whispered, "If anything looks off you don't hesitate to kill them and get the hell out of there."

She nodded at him and pulled her sleeve back to reveal a long knife in a sheath. "I'm ready."

"Good," he nodded and glanced back over his shoulder. "You remember what I told you."

The hissed order confused her for a moment; she wasn't quite sure which thing he'd told her he was referring to, so she blinked at him for a moment. What surprised her even more than his vehemence was that he reached up and cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply before releasing her and looking into her eyes, "You come back to me."

Ashara shook her head to clear the wave of unsteadiness that threatened to knock her to the ground as the kiss that she'd just received burned through her lips and down her spine making her knees weak.

The reverie of the moment was destroyed by the sound of the gate whooshing to life and Sheppard calling over to her to get ready. The next thing that truly registered in Ashara's mind was stumbling through a field strewn with large rocks on her way towards a ratty old compound that might hold Michael's latest laboratory.


	19. Part III Ch 4

"I still don't like it."

Rodney rolled his eyes and turned around with a big smile on his face. "I know you don't but remember she was a runner for two years. She's as much of a fighter as Ronon is and we're watching her. She's going to be fine." He walked to where the woman stood and brushed a stray piece of her soft blonde hair over her shoulder before lifting her chin with his fingers and placing a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Stop that, we're going to get caught," Jennifer said as she batted at his shoulder and turned her attention back to the vials in front of her.

"Jennifer, we are grown adults. We don't have to sneak about like a bunch of children hiding from their parents." He watched her for a moment as she smiled at him hesitantly and he could see that she was still nervous about their budding romance.

They had been getting closer to each other since their time in the underground bunker with Sam but they had agreed to take things slowly. And they had, for several weeks until Rodney had worked up enough guts one night to kiss her. That one kiss was possibly the sweetest thing he'd ever felt and now he couldn't resist taking every opportunity to kiss her he could. He went out of his way to find ways to catch moments alone with her, sometimes just to watch her work and marvel at the fact that such an amazing woman could possibly be interested in him and other times he would do whatever it took to get her alone long enough to enjoy another sweet kiss from her. He leaned a little closer and breathed in the lilac scent of her shampoo before she stepped away from him.

"I know that Rodney but, well…you know."

Jennifer had confided in him one night after they watched a movie with some of the other denizens of the city that she was very nervous about being in a romantic relationship. She had been a very precocious child and had entered into the academic arena long before other children her age even considered life after high school. She had spent most of her teen years learning how to perform delicate surgeries instead of dating and hanging out with other kids her age. So now, in her later life, she was a highly respected surgeon but she knew very little about romance and its nuances. Rodney reassured her that he really didn't know that much either, having spent his youth learning about everything scientific he could find. So they had agreed that they would learn together because the feelings they were developing for each other were too strong to ignore.

Rodney reached over under the counter they were standing behind and laced his fingers with hers giving them a little squeeze, "Slow, I know. I just can't help it. You just…" He couldn't say anything else because the blush that was racing up his neck was warring with the electric jolt that went down his spine from her touch and the thrill of being near her. If this was what love felt like than he was thankful to every higher power in the universe that had enlightened him to this state and he never wanted this feeling to end.

The door to the lab slid open and Dr. Coleman walked in giving them a little wave before she wandered over to the far side of the room and bent over a computer. Jennifer grimaced at him and he nodded sadly and backed away from her a few steps. "Well I just wanted you to know that we've got a good signal on Ashara and she hasn't moved in several days. Hopefully that means that she's being accepted into Michael's group and this will all be over before we know it."

"Thanks Rodney, it means a lot to me that you're keeping an eye on her."

He nodded knowingly, "Well I know she's a good friend of yours." He took a deep breath and whispered furiously, "Will you meet me after dinner tonight?"

Jennifer glanced over at Dr. Coleman who wasn't paying any attention to them and then smiled and nodded at him, "I'd like that."

"Good. South pier? Say seven?"

She nodded in agreement and he chanced one more quick peck on the cheek before leaving the lab.

XxXxXxXx

The heavy footfalls echoed down the long hallway and she tensed in the dark for whatever abuse was coming next. She'd been stuck in this cage for so long she couldn't remember now and it was starting to wear on her. If she could just have a chance at speaking to someone close to Michael she could get to him, she knew it in her heart. Plus she'd had the long hours in the dark cage to work out every nuance of her plan over and over until there was nothing that could go wrong with it. Every once in a while one of the mutant creations that obeyed Michael came to throw rancid food at her. They had withheld even that much for days after her arrival because she wouldn't tell them why she was there. She'd stuck to the story about being a runner who had found this compound by chance and they didn't seem to like that answer. Once one of the more human ones came to the cell and whipped her until she bled and screamed obscenities at her when she wouldn't tell him more than the fact that she was a runner.

Now the footsteps were nearing her door and she wondered if this visit would be food or another beating. The bright light that assaulted her when the heavy metal door creaked open gave way to vague shadows once her vision cleared. Eventually they coalesced into three people, if you could call them that. Two were the hulking mutants that Michael had created; the third was the former Wraith himself. Ashara nearly smiled at his appearance but she held her emotions in check and continued to cower in the corner.

"Who are you?" Michael growled as he stepped into the cage. She blinked at him like she didn't understand the question. "Who sent you?"

"No… no one…" she choked out the words. "I came here by chance."

"You're lying to me. Who sent you?" The threat was more than chilling as Michael towered over her and tangled his hand around her braid tugging her head back.

She let out a little squeak of fear and pain as he pulled her to her feet by her hair, "I'm a runner. They chased me for three planets. I came here by chance." Michael growled at her and shoved her into the wall. She slid down it and resumed her cowering. "Please, help me. I…"

"You what?"

She bit her lip and tried to tremble, "I'll do anything. Please."

Michael squatted down in front of her and grabbed her jaw in his hand, "What will you do for your freedom?"

"An…anything."

The smile that played across his face chilled her to the bone, and if nothing else about this plan terrified her, it was that. The effect worked because it increased her acted terror and the show she was putting on must have worked because Michael rose and snapped his fingers at the guards. "Clean her up and bring her to the lab."


	20. Part III Ch 5

"It's taking too long."

John Sheppard looked at his watch and rubbed the ache between his eyes. "Would you relax? He'll be here in a few minutes." As if it were reading his mind, which it might have been, the heads-up display flashed a yellow light and a soft beep came from the control panel. "See? There they are."

Ronon just grumbled to himself and continued fingering the knife he'd pulled from a sheath strapped to his hip. They'd been waiting in the jumper for the arrival of the big ship for several hours now, and both men were getting impatient. Ronon however was antsy for an entirely different reason. It had been nearly five months since he'd seen Ashara and his mood had grown increasingly sour since she'd gone undercover to infiltrate Michael's compound. Sheppard knew that the Satedan man and Ashara had shared something that was probably more romantic than Ronon would admit. They were both former runners and they had a lot in common other than that alone. Several times Sheppard and Teyla had asked the big man about his feelings for the Khorai woman but Ronon kept denying any involvement. Rodney had even mentioned the obvious attraction several times, despite his obliviousness to anything that didn't involve Jennifer Keller.

Since Rodney and Jennifer had admitted to everyone in the city that they were, in fact, seeing each other it was nearly impossible to pry them apart. Rodney, who up until the admission had been the most dedicated and manic scientist in the city, had become an entirely different person because of Jennifer and the entire city thanked her for the change. Instead of the brash, quick-tempered neurotic that had been Rodney of old, now a compassionate, fun loving and patient man resided in his shoes. Jennifer had also blossomed from the affection; she had become a driving force in the work to solve the various medical problems in the galaxy including the mutated Hoffan virus and the effort to find a way to keep the Wraith from feeding on humans.

Ronon slid the knife back into its sheath and gripped the armrests of the chair tightly. Sheppard could tell that he was eager to get this operation over with and return to some semblance of normalcy. Of course, they all were. Michael had been waging war on both the Wraith and the humans of the galaxy in his quest to create the perfect hybrid race to rule the galaxy after the other two were wiped out. His mutant creations had come with a lot of nasty side effects and the combined forces of the Wraith that followed Todd and the humans had been attempting to put a stop to his experiments for some time. When they had come up with the plan for Ashara to infiltrate Michael's inner circle and report back a definite location that they could attack and hopefully destroy Michael at, they hadn't planned on it taking nearly five months to happen. But the results had not been what they had hoped for.

Ashara had, in fact, gotten close to Michael; it had just taken a long time. She had been asked to prove herself and her loyalty over and over and many of the covert contacts they had set up before her infiltration had reported back about the atrocities they had witnessed at her hands. A swath of dead bodies and failed mutants crossed the galaxy and a lot of it had been attributed to Ashara who apparently had become one of Michael's right hand people. The Atlantis teams had been following the tracking device they had implanted in her for a long time, hoping for some signal that Michael was someplace they could attack him, but the former Wraith was a very wily individual and he seldom told anyone in his camp where he would be. Ashara had left numerous coded messages for them detailing the operation and advising them that she had no definite location for them to hit. Michael would keep his people isolated as they worked on his experiments and he would travel between the various labs he'd set up checking in on them. He came and went with no warning and never stayed long enough for her to get a signal out.

Finally, they had gotten their break and she'd contacted one of her Khorai friends at a market to pass along a message that Michael would be visiting the lab she was stationed at today. They had scrambled to get the Apollo ready for the assault and get word to Todd to rally his forces as well but they had lucked out and everything looked to be coming together. Now the Apollo and two Wraith cruisers were hiding close at hand but far enough away that they wouldn't be detected when Michael arrived. Sheppard and his team were waiting in a cloaked jumper in a low orbit for Michael's ship to arrive.

"All right, Lorne, you take your team and flank the base, watch for anyone trying to get out. My team will enter the building and take out the hostiles. Any questions?" Sheppard talked calmly into his headset but Ronon could see the tension in the man's hands as he gripped the controls of the jumper. When everyone in Lorne's jumper had reported back that the plan was clear Sheppard turned to the small squad of marines in his own and waited for them to nod their understanding. The entire team was carrying enough weaponry to assault a small country but they didn't want any nasty surprises. Ashara's messages had been brief, but detailed, and she had warned of the new hybrids being very difficult to kill.

Sheppard tapped his headset again and spoke to the commander of the Apollo, "Colonel Ellis, we are go down here. Make sure that ship doesn't get away."

"Roger Colonel, it's not going anywhere."

"Good. And be ready to beam out any wounded if we need it." Sheppard conferred on a few last second details and then turned his radio to the channel that the assault teams were on. "Okay, we're ready." He looked over at Ronon who was glaring at the building in front of them as if his gaze alone would destroy the whole thing and put everything back to normal. Sheppard really hoped that when they got to Ashara that she wasn't too badly damaged because he didn't think Ronon could handle it. The Satedan man had been steadily growing more and more angry and violent the longer she was in Michael's compound. He'd actually broken a few bones in sparring matches and Sheppard had been forced to forbid him from participating so the big man hadn't had much outlet for his anger recently. If this operation stretched out much longer he was afraid that Ronon would snap entirely.

His attention was drawn to the small shuttle that was landing in front of the sprawling building they had determined was the main lab complex and they waited for it to settle and for Michael to emerge. They were a good distance away from the building, so that even cloaked, there was no chance of detection and Sheppard glanced over at Ronon who was holding a pair of high-powered binoculars to his eyes watching the people that emerged from the shuttle.

"That's him, let's go."

"Give them a minute to get into the building," Sheppard said as he began easing the jumper forward carefully. When the small landing party had gone into the building Sheppard shot a glance over his shoulder to Rodney who was stabbing at his portable computer to figure out just where in the building Ashara's tracker signal was coming from. Rodney smiled and held up the tablet to show a rough schematic of the building, along with life signs indicator dots, to Sheppard and then he turned it to the Marines who all nodded as Sheppard sat the jumper down near the door and they readied themselves for the assault.


	21. Part III Ch 6

The latest batch of hybrid creations stood at attention and waited for their master to arrive to inspect them. They had been carefully trained by Michael's lieutenant to obey simple commands but much more than that was a wasted effort because the creatures lacked higher mental function that would allow it. She tried not to be nervous as she waited, but she could feel a trickle of sweat slide down her spine that was not from the sweltering heat in the building. As she limped along in front of the ranks of the creatures she tried to compose herself for the supposed demonstration as she heard the whirring engines of the shuttle descend through the atmosphere. She swiped a trembling hand through her short spiky hair and felt her excitement as well as her relief grow.

Several minutes later she heard the bleating alarm of the door announce his arrival and she straightened her long leather jacket in an attempt to not only calm herself but to hide her nervousness. She had her back turned to him, pretending to check some things on her tablet when he arrived followed by the stomping footsteps of his guards. "Raya, these look good. Show me what they can do."

When she turned to him with a wicked smile she could feel the tension flowing down her back as she released it so she could play the part that had come to be her life. "Michael, it is good to see you so soon. I am sure that you will be quite pleased with the results. This group tests out well for the standards you've given me."

The former Wraith strode across the room to her and slung his arm around her shoulder, "You have done much to please me in a very short time Raya. I have a good feeling about this."

"So do I," she said with a smile. They walked along slowly as he inspected her squadron of hybrids and she described the various attempts at what he'd outlined to her. She instructed the hybrids to turn and present their attributes for inspection, which they did with lumbering movements.

It wasn't long before she heard the sound she'd been longing to hear for months when the explosions started. Alarms blared throughout the building as the assault forces blew holes in the walls to gain entrance. Chaos erupted in the massive room as the hybrids started to do what they were designed to do and they moved to protect Michael and his research. The hulking beasts were slow, but very hard to kill, so the assault teams would need all the help they could get. Ducking to one side and reaching for a weapon to join the fight she triggered the hidden command code that would start the timers on the explosives she'd hidden around the compound. Hopefully the explosions wouldn't catch one of the assault teams, but she couldn't risk not taking the chance to destroy as much of the experiments as she could.

The first of the Marines struggled into the room as she spotted Michael bolting for the back entrance and freedom. She plowed through the bulky bodies of the hybrids that were engaging with the Marines as she dodged and weaved destroyed lab equipment to get to their maker. She tried not to allow the pain in her mangled knee joint distract her from her goal but it ached and burned as she exerted it. Finally she found him, struggling with the pile of debris in front of the door that she'd moved there earlier in the day. He was nearly though the obstacles so she took a shot at him hoping to disable him long enough for her to get close enough to kill him. The bullet from her small gun tore through his leg and he went crashing to the ground.

When the hybrids saw her attack their maker they did as they'd been programmed and they turned on her. The giant creature nearest her spun on its heels and roared at her as it crashed along, strewing more equipment in its wake. She dodged it and tried to circle around to get to it's small undefended vulnerability but another of the creatures grabbed her. She tried to slip out of its grasp but it just squeezed harder and she felt the crushing press on her ribs. It let go a moment later and spun to face the annoying hail of bullets that slammed into its thick hide. She glanced to the side where the bullets had come from and found the scared expression on Rodney McKay's face as he pumped more bullets into the creature that was now trudging towards him.

The creature was closing in on him so she dodged around it and shouted at Rodney, "Gun!" When he let off the trigger of his P-90 long enough to pull his sidearm, the hybrid had the opportunity it needed to advance and the terror in Rodney's eyes grew. But he did as she asked and tossed the pistol in her direction before he fired more bullets at the towering beast. His aim had been bad and the pistol went clattering to the floor, sliding across the concrete towards her. She scooped it up and fired three quick rounds at the hybrid's vulnerable spot at the back of it's neck before spinning and firing at the creature beside it. Both of the downed hybrids crashed to the ground in death and she dodged one of the carcasses as she continued towards where Michael was struggling back to his feet.

As she reached him she could hear Rodney shouting behind her, "Sheppard! Back of the neck!"

Knowing that the hybrids would be in for a fight now, she turned her full attention back to Michael who was grunting in pain as he fought his way upright despite the gaping wound in his leg. Blood poured down his thigh and left a trail on the floor behind him. He hopped along towards the next closest exit, having found no luck getting out of the one he was at, clutching his torn thigh with his hand as he struggled. She chased after him in her own lurching gait; her knee throbbing painfully as she over exerted it. Blinding flashes of light erupted to her right from the beginnings of the explosions she herself had unleashed on the back areas of the labs. When she'd set the charges she had timed them to take out the back half of the building first, hoping that no one would be trapped there.

Other flashes from the muzzles of various guns caught her attention briefly as well and she saw some of the assault forces grappling with the hybrids, trying to get to the vulnerable spot she'd shown Rodney. She thought she saw a flash of whipping dreadlocks behind one of the creatures and her heart leapt to her throat, but she couldn't be sure because she needed to pay attention to Michael. He was nothing if not wily, and if she didn't pay attention to him he would slip away and vanish again making her infiltration of his operation completely useless.

She pushed herself faster and hauled her aching body around the corner he'd just ducked around to find him waiting for her. The look of sheer anger on his face was nearly enough to make her stop and rethink her assault but the painful flashes of what he'd put her through edged forward in her mind and she felt her own lip curl in hatred. "You can't escape."

Michael lunged for her and grabbed her around the waist knocking her to the floor where he hit at her as they rolled back and forth, each trying to gain the upper hand. Her determination to see him stopped allowed her to fight harder than she normally would and rage dominated her thoughts until everything around her narrowed to oblivion. She punched and kicked at him with every ounce of strength she had until she finally scored a direct hit on the leg wound she'd created causing him to rear back, screaming in pain. She dug her fingers into the wound and squeezed at the muscles and flesh inside driving him down to the floor in agony. Then she put all of her weight on his chest and pinned his arms with her knees while she looked down at him with utter hatred.

"Why? You were loyal to me," he panted as she held him.

She reached into her jacket and pulled out the syringe she'd put there while she glared at him with such hatred, "I am only loyal to one man in this life and you are _not_ him!" She growled out the response and punctuated the 'not' by slamming the syringe down into his chest and injecting him with the poison that she used to put down the failed hybrids. As the poison streamed through his body, carried along by his rapidly beating pulse, the toxin began to work and his muscles jerked and twitched in crazy spasms. She rose up from where she had him pinned and watched as the poison destroyed his internal organs. Michael flailed and flopped on the floor like a fish tossed on a river bank and she sighed loudly, letting the relief wash over her.

She staggered back against the wall and gulped air into her lungs. Not completely trusting either the poison or Michael himself, she pulled a sharp knife from her boot and knelt once more next to his thrashing body before she dragged the blade across his throat slicing as far through as she could. His eyes went wide at the new pain and he reached up for her before a fresh wave of spasms overtook him and she pushed back away from him and staggered a short way down the hall.

Sounds came roaring back to her and the melee in the main room swam back into focus with several explosions and the horrible cries of pain from the hybrids as the assault force decimated them. She bent down to pick up the handgun she'd dropped as she staggered forward to join her friends in the fight before her knee collapsed and she fell heavily to the ground in pain. She wanted to catch her breath but another explosion rumbled through the building announcing the larger charges she'd planted had begun. She only had a few more minutes before the entire building would be a pile of rubble so she tried to get to her feet to warn the others.

When she looked up towards the main room she saw Ronon stumbling towards her and relief flooded her body at the same time that his shout of warning reached her, "Ash!"

She spun around to where his eyes looked as he pulled his gun from its holster. Instinct took over and she pulled up her own gun and they fired at the same time at Michael's looming form behind her. Their rounds hit him at the same time and his body fell once and for all to the ground, a gaping hole in his forehead from a bullet. Ronon slid to a halt next to her and pulled her to her feet, "Get out…building," she gasped as she tried to get enough air into her lungs to survive. "Gonna blow!"

He didn't hesitate before taking her hand and dragging her the rest of the way down the hall. Along the way he tapped at his radio and shouted over the explosions for everyone to clear the building. Eventually they made it out into the sunlight and clear air as the building crumbled to the ground amidst a rolling cloud of dust and debris. He dumped her on a clear spot of ground near one of the jumpers and ran back into the remnants of the building to help others. A quick headcount determined that all but two of their team had made it out; some more injured than others but everyone that was able to move on their own was doing just that.

Sheppard scanned the remaining team members for any injuries that would require more immediate attention and had them transported up to the Apollo for treatment. Once that matter was handled and he'd gotten a report from Colonel Ellis that the Wraith ship had been destroyed he searched the crowd for the members of his team. He found Rodney clutching his computer tablet checking the readout on it for any more signs of trouble. The scientist held up his thumb and rolled to his feet to walk along beside his commander. They worked their way through the assembled men in the group until Rodney spotted Ronon standing near the edge of the rubble dispatching one of the last of the hybrid monsters that had made it out of the building.

Ronon pumped three more shots into the neck of the creature before it stopped thrashing around and then he raised his eyes to Sheppard and Rodney. "Last one."

Sheppard stared down at the beast on the ground and shook his head, "Should be in a comic book." The creatures looked like Michael had crossed gorillas with rhinoceros and come up with an upright armored ogre that had some small amount of human DNA thrown in to boot. "Any sign of Michael?"

Ronon nodded grimly, "Dead." He turned away from them and started walking to where he'd dumped Ashara after pulling her out of the building.

"You're sure?" Sheppard prodded. He really didn't want to think about how difficult it would be to get a hold of Michael again if this had failed. "You saw a body and you know without a doubt?"

Ronon paused long enough to look at his commander and nod, "I saw him die." His lip curled in a faint smile and he turned back to his path.

"I'm not saying you're not sure here buddy, but you know this for a fact? Did you kill him yourself?" Sheppard wouldn't chance leaving this place until Michael was well and truly dead.

"No," Ronon growled over his shoulder. He'd really wanted to be the one that would finally kill Michael but the way it had turned out was pretty satisfying too. He'd gotten to the end of the hallway in time to see Michael tackle Ashara and slam her to the floor. He had started down to help her out but the violence that exploded out of her made him stop and let her have her moment. When she'd growled out the part about Michael not being the man she was loyal to, a sense of pride and hope swelled in his chest. Then when she slit his throat he felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders as all the tension from knowing that she was in danger all this time left his body. "But Ash killed him, three times over."

Sheppard and Rodney paused in his wake and blinked in surprise at the statement. Neither of them said anything as Ronon rushed to Ashara's side and pulled her to her feet. He looked down at her for a moment and then pulled her close to him and kissed her deeply and passionately for a long time.

"Wow," Sheppard said in awe at the Satedan man's show of emotions.

Rodney blinked in surprise and wondered if a kiss like that could be taught. If he could lay a kiss like that on Jennifer she'd be putty in his hands. "Well, I guess that answers that question huh?"


	22. Part IV Ch 1

"What have I done to deserve this?"

From across the small room echoed a deep male voice, "It's not you, it's all me."

"You're kidding right? I mean you have no idea how bad my luck is."

"Trust me, this is all me. If there's a well to fall into, I'll find it. Obviously."

"Well, your luck sucks then doesn't it?"

Rustling came from across the room and the metallic crinkle of a powerbar being unwrapped followed. "Hungry? I've got another one."

"No, I'm good. Can't stand those things. Nah, I'll be fine as long as I…yes!" A new crackling came from the darkness followed by the sounds of a piece of gum being chewed.

Silence deafened them for a while until they both grew restless wondering how they'd escape this latest predicament. They weren't due to report in to Atlantis for at least another four hours and once someone was sent to find out what had happened, it'd take the party a while to find their location since they'd gotten so lost. Finally he couldn't stand the quiet any longer and tried to think of something to say to break the tension. Maybe it was all the time he'd spent with Rodney McKay that gave him the aversion to silence he suddenly felt. Whatever the case, it would probably help them both keep their cool if they didn't have to think about where they were.

"So…who do you like for the Superbowl this year?"

"What?"

"Superbowl, football, NFL? Any of this ringing a bell?"

"Uh, no? I don't watch sports much."

"Hunh." The silence expanded again and they both fidgeted in the darkness. "Um…movies?"

"What about them?"

"Got any favorites? Something you've seen recently?"

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Look Sergeant, I'm trying to keep us from going nuts here, work with me."

"Yes sir." The sound of gum popping loudly reverberated in the darkness. "Die Hard."

"Really? I woulda taken you for more of a softer movie."

"What like some sappy love story? Nah, love me some good action flicks. What about you?"

"Hmmm, Die Hard is good. Lethal Weapon is better, the original of course. Um…Oh, anything John Woo."

"Gah! I've just lost all respect for you."

"Aw, now Broken Arrow wasn't bad." He chuckled softly and munched on the powerbar. When he got no response he decided to go on. "So you like explosion movies then?"

A soft chortle responded, "Yeah, I don't exactly fit the mold do I?"

The tinfoil that had once held the powerbar crinkled loudly as he crumpled it up and shoved it in his pocket. "There's a mold? Really?"

"Well, if my mother had her way, yes, I'd be a good little wife in my sari and a big old fat bindi on my forehead, cooking for my husband with a house full of children."His sudden burst of laughter surprised her and she curled her lip up in distaste, not that he could see it. "You think that's funny?"

"Well, yeah. I mean does she know you at all?"

Now it was her turn to join him in laughter at the thought of her mother trying to force her heritage on her. "Yeah, not gonna happen."

His chortling died down and he stared across the blackness at where he thought she was, "No, not in this life. So why don't you fit that mold? What made you decide to join the SGC?"

Her gum popped loudly again, "Probably growing up in the States. My parents tried to keep all the traditional values in our house but since I went to public school I got a glimpse of the other side of life and I liked that better. I refused to be forced into an arranged marriage like my parents wanted so I ran off and joined the Marines." She snorted as she thought about how her parents had reacted when she came home to tell them that. "I probably should blame Mark Thornton for it, he was the one that got me started watching the 'explosion movies'. So then I found out I was a good soldier in boot camp and I just ran with it. Got good at blowing shit up and then I got introduced to the Ori and…well, here I am."

"Hmmm. My butt is getting numb."

"Excuse me?"

He grinned in the dark and she could hear it in his voice, "Sitting on this cold rock is making my butt numb. Wish there was room to walk around."

"Could be worse."

"Yeah? How?" He shifted around in the darkness and hit her foot with his own in the small space.

She snickered quietly, "We coulda broken our legs falling down the shaft."

"Nah, I landed pretty softly."

"Yeah, I'm going to be feeling that for a month. You're pretty heavy for such a skinny guy." They lapsed back into silence, both wondering how long it would take for someone to figure out where they were.

"So…what kind of a name is Dusty anyway? Doesn't sound very Indian."

She snorted again and cracked her gum, "It's really Dhanishta but the kids at school couldn't pronounce it. I ended up being Dusty and it just kinda stuck."

"Dhanishta, that's pretty. Mean anything?"

"You'll laugh."

"Noooo! I'd never laugh."

She kicked his foot with her own and grunted, "You're a bad liar." When he didn't respond she waited a moment and then nodded to herself, "Fine, but no laughing. It means 'richest one'. It's the name of one of our zodiac signs."

"Cool. Better than John. That just means 'my parents couldn't come up with anything better'."

"Actually it means 'God is gracious'."

"Really? How do you know that?"

She snickered again, "High school project on name origins for an English paper."

"Well aren't you just full of surprises."

She laughed, "You have no idea."


	23. Part IV Ch 2

An hour later they had covered high school, the horrors of first dates, discovered that they both enjoyed roller coasters and fast cars and decided that they were both not at all the people they first appeared to be. Their conversation had become easier as it went along and now it was interspersed with laughter and teasing.

"Okay, I got one. Prettiest place you've ever been."

"Earth or anywhere?"

"Mmmm, just Earth. I'm pretty sure we haven't traveled in the same circles off planet."

She thought about it for a while and finally said, "Banff Canada."

"Oh don't let McKay hear that, you'll never hear the end of how wonderful Canada is." They laughed at the scientist's habit of going on and on about how incredible things in his home country were. "So, what's so great about it?"

"Oh everything. Snow, glaciers, bluest water you've ever seen, and it's the best place on the planet to go to remember just how small you really are." She folded her legs up under her and leaned back on the rocks behind her, "Plus they have the best fondue house I've ever been to."

Food had wormed into most of their conversations because they were both hungry. "Fondue huh? Never been a big fan."

She laughed at his remark, "Well it doesn't compare to a juicy steak but I like it for a change. Okay, same question to you."

"Hmmm. Probably Antarctica."

"Really? Can't imagine."

He chuckled, "Well after seven months in Afghanistan it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Plus it's quiet. And when the sun hits the glaciers just right it's magic."

They lapsed into silence again, both thinking about the spots they'd just described. Then a low howling started to echo through the darkness. "What is that?"

He stood up and craned his neck up at the entrance to the hole they'd fallen into. After a moment he crouched back down, "Aw crap."

"What?" Her question was answered by a loud clap of thunder and the beginnings of a rainstorm pounding down to the ground. In a few seconds she could feel the fat raindrops beating down on her head. "That's it, never going off world with you again."

"Told you my luck was bad."

"No kidding! First the creepy fog monsters with no eyes, now we're stuck in a hole that's going to fill up with rain. Oh and it's freezing too!" She huffed and folded her arms across her chest against the chill that the rain was bringing. She'd been chilly before, the night air on this planet wasn't even close to tropical, but she could deal with it huddled in this hole. Now the rain was starting to seep through her clothes and she could feel what little heat she'd built up under her TAC vest start to slip away.

Sheppard was pushing his back against the wall behind where he'd been standing trying to find out if there was any cover from the rainfall. The well they'd fallen down wasn't completely straight but there wasn't enough of an angle to get out of the rain. He waited until the lightning flashed again and checked the time on his watch, "Still three more hours till we're overdue."

"I'm gonna freeze before that," she said with a shiver. She was huddled down on the ground tucked into a ball to try to conserve her body heat but it wasn't working very well. The night had gotten quite chilly before the rain started and she could imagine that outside of the hole they were in it would be even worse.

"C'mere," Sheppard said as he shifted once more in the dark.

"What?"

Sheppard groaned, "Body heat. C'mere."

"Oh, well duh." She got up and stumbled across the small space between them, fumbling in the dark and tripping over his foot. Finally she worked her way up beside him and huddled shivering next to him. "Well you got the prime real estate in this lot didn't you?"

"Yeah, the ocean view is killer," he snarked at her remark as he scooted towards her and wrapped his arms around her chest.

"Whoa! What the…?"

"Relax Sergeant, body heat, nothing more. I'm cold too."

The didn't talk for a while, each trying to figure out a way out of this or a way to at least keep warm until the next team arrived to help them. The temperature was obviously dropping and now the rain was becoming thicker bits too so they were soaked and now being pelted with ice. Chances were good that they weren't going to freeze but it was mighty uncomfortable in any case.

"You're taller than I thought," Mehra said after a while.

Sheppard chuckled a little and replied, "Standing next to Ronon all the time makes everyone look short."

"He is a freaking giant isn't he? I'd hate to have to be in charge of his wardrobe."

"Why do you think he doesn't wear BDUs? No one in the Forces is that tall. Makes sense though, he barely fits in the jumpers so he sure as hell wouldn't fit into anything smaller than a C-130 back home." Sheppard pondered the idea of Ronon trying to squeeze into a Blackhawk for a few moments before turning his attention back to Mehra. "So…uh…you come here often?"


	24. Part IV Ch 3

Her laughter made him smile in return. "No, but I was in the area, thought I'd give it a whirl."

"And how's that working out for you?"

"Hmm, not too bad but the place is kinda dead. And the dance floor is way too small."

"Oh I don't know it's not that bad." He let the silence stretch out again before swallowing and asking, "So, you here with anyone or flying solo tonight?"

She didn't hesitate for too long before grinning and responding, "Well I'm here with a guy. Sort of. He's not like a date or anything, more like my boss but not really."

"Mmm. Sounds kinda weird." When she didn't say anything he shifted a little, "So not dating anyone then?"

She turned her head to try to see his face but she couldn't in the darkness, "Um, Colonel? Is this going somewhere?"

"No, just making conversation."

"Hunh, well then no. Not seeing anyone. You?"

"Kinda hard to in my line of work."

She snorted, "No kidding! You should try telling a guy that your interests include the latest combat techniques, advances in body armor and strategic ambushes."

They laughed together for a bit, "It cuts both ways you know, just ask my ex-wife. She couldn't understand why I couldn't make it home for dinner while I was on a bombing run in Afghanistan and she was in Colorado."

"Ooo, nasty." She cocked her head at him again, "Somehow I can't picture you married."

He shrugged, "Why not?

"Oh you know, that whole 'he's Kirk' thing."

"I am not."

She giggled a little, "Not what I hear."

"Hold on a minute here. If I really was all Kirk-like then wouldn't I have made a move on you by now? I mean this is a very opportune situation here you know."

That took her back a moment and she chewed her lip as she thought about it. "Yeah I guess it is an opportunity isn't it? Okay, I'm sorry I suggested it."

He made a soft 'hmph' noise, "Apology accepted."

"Kind of a shame though."

Sheppard raised an eyebrow that couldn't be seen, "Oh really?"

"Mmmm, sure, why not?"

"Why not what?"

"Well I mean… you are an attractive guy and all. Guess there's worse people I could be stuck in a hole with."

"Sergeant, is there something you want to tell me?"

"What? Oh no sir. I was just speculating."

Sheppard chuckled at her sudden change in behavior; he could feel her tense up and try to move away from him. He didn't let her get very far, mainly because she was warm and he wasn't. "You need to lighten up a little there. Too much of those rules and regs they force down our throats back home aren't going to help you out here."

"Uh…yes sir?"

"Knock it off Mehra. I think we've gotten to the point where we can use names not titles." To illustrate his point he stepped back away from her and held out his hand, "Hi there, I'm John. And you are?"

She cocked her head at him and grinned as she cleared her throat nervously, "Uh, Dusty." Suddenly his warm hand found hers in the dark and he clasped it softly. She shivered a little and this time it wasn't just from the cold but from the electricity of his skin on hers.

"Well Dusty, what say you come back over here cause I'm freezing?"

Since they were now facing each other when he stepped back up to her she had no choice but to snuggle up against his chest. The warm scent of his skin filled her nostrils and made her think of leather and strength and things that she probably shouldn't be thinking about. After all, this was her commander and she was just a lowly little Sergeant. Even if things were rather relaxed with the rules in Atlantis it still wouldn't fly to be having a relationship with a superior officer. She tried desperately to shove the warm tingle that was building in the base of her spine away but it just kept growing.

"You okay there Dusty?"

She simply nodded in his embrace. Mainly because she was chewing the hell out of her lip to keep from doing something really stupid like try to kiss him. She could just imagine how much teasing she'd get from everyone in the city if she were crazy enough to make a move on the Colonel. After all, he'd been in charge practically since day one so if he really wanted to have a fling with a junior grade he could have long before now and yet, he was still very obviously single.

As if he could read her thoughts he leaned his head down by her ear and whispered, "Relax, I'm not going to bite you."

"Biting isn't what I'm worried about sir."

Sheppard pulled back from her a little and strained his eyes against the darkness. Sudden realization of what was happening came crashing down on him like a ten-foot wave and he blinked for a moment in the silence as he tried to quickly sort through his thoughts. He really could picture himself enjoying the idea of pushing his luck and kissing her, even though he knew it wasn't something he should even consider. Dusty was after all a very attractive woman and they had just spent the last two hours finding out that they had a great deal in common. Maybe it had been too long since he'd felt the comfort of a woman or maybe he was just going crazy from being stuck in this hole. Or maybe it was something else entirely. He chewed on that train of thought for a brief instant and then threw logic out the window.


	25. Part IV Ch 4

As soon as his lips met hers she felt like she'd been hit by lightning. Explosions of fire ran through her lips and down her spine like ten thousand volts of electricity coursing through her. Her chest compressed and felt as if it were being crushed while other parts of her body, lower and more intimate, opened in delight and started searching for what she'd been missing for so long. It felt like time stood still as the shocks of fire flew up and down her body but in reality it was only a few seconds before he pulled away.

"Whoa," she breathed as she tried to regain some of her senses.

Sheppard only pulled back from her enough to let her breathe. He was still hovering near enough that his own breath tickled her neck. "I uh…probably shouldn't have done that."

She swallowed and replied, "No." Her voice came out in a squeak and she winced at the noise.

"Look, let's um…let's forget that ever happened shall we?"

She shook her head, "No."

Now he backed away more, still close to her to retain the small amount of heat they had but far enough that his body wouldn't betray his intentions. "Oh this isn't going to be a problem is it?"

"Are you insane?"

"Well," he shrugged a little and cocked his head to one side. "I've been told that before."

"God you're an idiot."

"Hey now!"

She kicked at his toes and said, "I mean, you're an idiot if you think I didn't like that. I mean…wow!"

"So…um…?"

"So, um, yeah…" she stopped trying to make sense and leaned over as she grabbed the front of his TAC vest and pulled him back towards her to kiss him again. He offered no resistance so she deepened the kiss a little, pressing her lips against his and sliding her arm around his waist. She thrilled at the sweet taste of his mouth left over from the powerbar he'd eaten and she felt as if she were floating on a cloud. They explored each other's mouth gently and tenderly for a time and then more insistently. Dusty could feel his body reacting to the moment and she was delighted when she pressed her hip against his and found him quite eager to continue this interlude.

Sheppard pulled back from her reluctantly and grinned in the darkness; "You're not going get me in trouble with your CO are you?"

She giggled softly, "See? Idiot." Then she pulled him back into the moment and kissed him with a passion she didn't know she had.

"…from over here somewhere."

Sheppard strained his ears to see if he had really heard someone's voice from above or if he was just imagining it. He would get up and see if he could see any movement above the hole but Dusty was wrapped around his body, huddled under their TAC vests, and he really didn't want to move. The rain and snow had stopped a while ago but it was still cold and they'd finally settled into a position where they were not only warm, but comfortable enough to doze off.

Then a light danced over the top of the hole and was soon followed by another light joining it and shining down into the darkness, blinding him. "Hello down there," came Major Lorne's voice from above.

Sheppard shielded his eyes from the light and blinked until Lorne's face came into focus. The man was grinning at him like he'd just found his commander doing something very questionable that would be used as blackmail for years. He quickly took stock of how this must look to Lorne and realized he was going to be kidded about the way he and Dusty were tangled together for a very long time. "Wipe that grin off your face Lorne and get us out of here."

Dusty roused from her light sleep as soon as he moved and to his chagrin she actually snuggled in closer instead of backing away. "Up and at 'em Sergeant, rescue's here," he said loud enough for the people above to hear.

Reality came crashing back through the haze of endorphins she'd been wallowing in, "Bastards." Her voice was a whisper that only Sheppard could hear and he gave her one last little squeeze before she sat upright knocking their TAC vests off and stretching a little to work out the kinks in her back.

It took a few minutes for Lorne's team to work out how to get them up out of the hole without falling in themselves, so Sheppard and Mehra had some time to straighten their clothes out and look presentable. Eventually they were all on the muddy plain above the hole looking down at it. Lorne was shaking his head and smirking at Sheppard and Mehra was searching for the pack she'd lost before the fall.

"So, should I ask?" Lorne joked, still grinning.

Sheppard scowled at the shorter man, "Gravity is a universal truth Major. Don't forget it."

"Yes sir." Lorne looked at Sheppard and then his eyes tracked over to where Mehra was rummaging through the pack she'd found nearby. She pulled out a piece of chewing gum with a triumphant look and popped it into her mouth before standing up and shouldering the bag. Lorne turned back to his commander with a hopeful expression that Sheppard knew meant the Major wanted details. Men everywhere had perfected the types of expressions that could convey if they'd scored or not without ever saying a word. Probably so that the women in their lives wouldn't kill them over those same admissions.

Sheppard scowled harder at his second in command and shouldered past him, "Where's the jumper?"

"Over there sir," Lorne replied pointing.

The group sloughed through the thick mud back to the jumper in silence. When someone wanted to explain how they'd ended up at the bottom of a well they would so no one asked any questions that would upset the seemingly angry Colonel. They all piled into the ship, Lorne taking the pilot's seat and the rest of his team taking the other chairs in the front. Sheppard and Mehra had settled themselves on the benches in the back, wrapped in blankets and trying not to let their shivering chatter their teeth too badly.

As they flew back to the gate, Sheppard stretched out his legs and tapped Dusty's boot with his own before shooting her a wink and a grin. She couldn't help but grin back and she had to turn her head towards the back hatch in case someone looked backwards and saw the blush she just knew was creeping up her neck. When she got herself back in control and glanced back over at him he was leaning back against the bulkhead with his hands laced behind his head, gifting her with a smug and satisfied smile. She grinned right back and winked at him before they got to the stargate and were back in the city.


End file.
